Blake 1

Christian Blake

Professor Hunter

English Composition II

10 February 2019

Annotated Bibliography

My essay will attempt to answer the question, what are opioids and how have doctors

prescribing them caused a national epidemic in the United States over the past 20 years? I want

to know how the national opioid epidemic came to be and how doctors prescribing these played a

major role in the epidemic.

Guevremont, Nathan, et al. “Physician Autonomy and the Opioid Crisis.” Journal of Law,

Medicine & Ethics, vol. 46, no. 2, Summer 2018, pp. 203–219. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1177/1073110518782922. https://eds-b-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=db41ce70-ac48-4a95-909e-

ec48a6ecc078%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#db=ccm&

AN=130847563

Physician Autonomy and the Opioid Crisis was written by Nathan Guevremont. This

source appeared on CINAHL Complete on July 24, 2018. The source describes how physicians

played a major role in the creation of the opioid epidemic. The article describes how opioid laws

and physician power in the United States directly caused the creation of the opioid epidemic in

the early twenty-first century. Restrictions and federal regulations on opioids were virtually

nonexistent and there was no way to rectify the system before it was already too late.

The author's purpose in writing this article is to educate the public on the real cause of the

nation-wide opioid epidemic. The projected audience for this information is the general public.
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This article was written after evidence came to light describing how big drug companies and

loose government regulation led to an oversupply of prescription opioid pills. This information

is valid because it is filled with facts that became public knowledge following the beginning of

the opioid epidemic.

Nathan Guevremont is the primary writer of this article. I know the author is credible

because he was a student at Yale Law School, showing he has knowledge of laws set by the

government and how they work. Also, the author’s article was included in the Journal of Law,

Medicine, and Ethics, which further backs his credibility to be writing on the subject. The author

had adequate information to write the article because he was describing laws put in place by the

United States Federal Government regarding laws on opioids. The source is reliable because the

information included in the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics is reviewed to ensure the

accuracy of the content.

I can use the information included in this article to describe the loose federal regulations

on opioids and how this led to the nation-wide epidemic we face today. I can use the

information regarding the power of physicians in this article to further prove my argument that

doctors played a major role in facilitating the opioid epidemic.

Meier, Barry. “Opioid’s Maker Hid Knowledge Of Wide Abuse.” The New York Times,

2018, p. 1. EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=edsgic&AN=edsgcl.540639980&site=eds-live.

Opioid’s Maker Hid Knowledge Of Wide Abuse was written by Barry Meier. This source

appeared on Academic OneFile on May 29, 2018. This article states how Purdue Pharma ignited

the spark of the nation-wide prescription opioid epidemic through its aggressive marketing of
 Blake 3

OxyContin. The source provides information linking the nation-wide opioid epidemic to big

drug companies like Purdue Pharma. There were so many prescription opioids flooding the

market and being prescribed to patients and companies like Purdue Pharma virtually pushed pills

and turned their shoulders.

The author's purpose in writing this article is to educate the curious public on big drug

company’s and their knowledge behind the effects of opioids on patients that receive

prescriptions for using pills, like OxyContin. This article was written after the nation-wide

prescription opioid epidemic became a real problem for the United States. The author wrote this

information after evidence regarding drug companies and their roles in the epidemic came to

light.

Barry Meier wrote this article. I know the author is credible because he was a member of

the New York Times reporting team that won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for international reporting.

I know the author had adequate information to write the article because the information in the

article is based on evidence proving drug companies had knowledge of the opioid epidemic

before it became a real problem in the United States. The source is reliable because the article is

in The New York Times.

I will use the information from this article to describe how the oversupply of prescription

pills like OxyContin caused the rise of opioid abuse nationwide. I can use the information to

help answer my question of what opioids are in the first place, I can use OxyContin as a prime

example. With this information, I can prove the oversupply of prescription pills led to doctors

prescribing an excess amount to the public, leading to the start of the epidemic.

National Institute on Drug Abuse. “Opioid Overdose Crisis.” NIDA, 22 Jan. 2019,

www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/opioids/opioid-overdose-crisis.
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Opioid Overdose Crisis was written by The National Institute on Drug Abuse. This

source appeared on The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s website on January 22, 2019. This

source explains how the addictiveness of prescription opioids led to the epidemic and the deaths

of thousands of Americans every day. The article states how the addictiveness of prescription

opioids led to widespread misuse nationwide eventually leading to an inevitable epidemic. The

article describes what we know about opioids and the epidemic it caused followed by what

government agencies are doing to fix the problem.

The writer’s purpose in creating this article is to inform the general public on what we

know and what is being done regarding the nationwide prescription opioid epidemic the United

States faces today. This article was written this year which proves the information regarding the

opioid epidemic is up-to-date and accurate.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse is the writer. The website that created this

information is credible because it is a government sponsored website. The website had adequate

information to write this article because the information came from the United States

government. This source is reliable because the information posted on the website came from

the United States government.

I will refer to this information to use facts and statistics in order to describe the scale of

the opioid epidemic the United States faces. I can use this information to effectively describe

what exactly an opioid is and how they are very addictive.

Rothstein, Mark A. “Ethical Responsibilities of Physicians in the Opioid Crisis.” Journal

of Law, Medicine & Ethics, vol. 45, no. 4, Winter 2017, pp. 682–687. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1177/1073110517750606. https://eds-a-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=12&sid=79d24aa5-7ce0-4c65-9b02-
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4f348573748e%40sessionmgr104&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=12727

0988&db=ccm

Ethical Responsibilities of Physicians in the Opioid Crisis was written by Mark

Rothstein. This source appeared on CINAHL Complete on January 17, 2018. The article states

how physicians were directly related to the cause of the nation-wide opioid crisis. Physician-

patient relations played a major part in the uprising of the epidemic. The article describes how

physicians have ethical responsibilities that were virtually non-existent before the rise of the

opioid crisis. The source shares information regarding the government-sponsored drug

monitoring programs that overlook distribution of prescription drugs nationwide and how they

are related to the nationwide opioid epidemic. The author states how increasing pain

management was met with prescription pills to satisfy patients.

The author’s purpose in writing this article was to describe how physicians have a moral

responsibility to follow when prescribing drugs to patients. The audience for this piece is the

general public. This article was written after the opioid crisis became a real issue in the United

States.

The writer is Mark Rothstein. I know the author is credible because he is the Herbert F.

Boehl Chair of Law and Medicine and Director of the Institute for Bioethics, Health Policy and

Law at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. I know the author had adequate

information to write the article because the information came directly from the Journal of Law,

Medicine, and Ethics. The information from this source is reviewed and proven accurate

therefore I am led to believe the source is reliable.

I will use the information from this source to prove my argument that physicians and

doctors played a major part in directly causing the nation-wide crisis the United States faces
 Blake 6

today. I can also use this information to describe how doctors and physicians have an ethical and

moral responsibility when it comes to prescribing patients with prescription opioids.

Scholl, Lawrence, et al. “Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths - United States,

2013-2017.” MMWR: Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, vol. 67, no. 51/52, Jan.

2019, pp. 1419–1427. EBSCOhost, doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm675152e1. https://eds-b-

ebscohost-com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=d8498878-869e-4891-

b388-

3b2375a45c12%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=1339

00634&db=c9h

Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths - United States, 2013-2017 was written by

Lawrence Scholl. This source appeared on Consumer Health Complete - EBSCOhost on January

4, 2019. This source states the opioid overdose epidemic continues to worsen and evolve

because of the continuing increase in deaths involving synthetic opioids. The article lays out

countless facts and statistics showing the real scale of the nation-wide opioid crisis we face

today. Statistics include deaths from each year and percentages showing a dramatic increase

from year to year. More comprehensive surveillance and monirtoring of the epidemic is needed

to truly pinpoint the future and efforts need to dramatically intensify to start curbing the number

of deaths the United States faces every day from this epidemic.

The writer's purpose in writing this article is to display actual facts and statistics for the

general public regarding the opioid crisis. The audience for this piece is the general public. This

article was written in 2019 which means this information is extremely relevant. The information

and statistics contained in the article are up-to-date.

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The writer is Lawrence Scholl. I know the author is credible because he is an

epidemiologist investigates patterns and causes of disease and injury in humans. The author also

works for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). This proves the author is qualified to be

providing facts and statistics regarding the opioid crisis. I know the author has adequate

information to write the article because the author works for the CDC where his job is to report

statistics regarding death patterns in the United States. The source is reliable because it is the

MMWR: Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report, which is on the government-sponsored CDC

website.

I will use the information from this article to incorporate factual and statistical values

regarding deaths from the opioid crisis into my essay. Using these values, I can describe the

severity of the epidemic the United States faces.

Scholl, Lawrence. “Opioid Overdose.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 19 Dec. 2018,

www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html.

Opioid Overdose was written by Lawrence Scholl. This source appeared on the CDC’s

website on December 21, 2018. The author states the rise in opioid overdose deaths can be

outlined in three distinct waves. First, increased prescriptions of opioids in the 1990’s. Next,

rapid overdose deaths in 2010. Third, dramatic deaths from synthetic opioids in 2013. The

website page uses a very detailed graph and different statistics to describe the deaths caused by

opioids. The article also describes different agencies and programs that are working to combat

the ongoing prescription opioid epidemic.

The writer's purpose in writing this article is to display actual facts and statistics for the

general public regarding the opioid crisis. The audience for this piece is the general public. This
 Blake 8

article was written at the very end of 2018 which means this information is extremely relevant.

The graph and statistics contained in the article are up-to-date.

The writer is Lawrence Scholl. I know the author is credible because he is an

epidemiologist investigates patterns and causes of disease and injury in humans. The author also

works for the Centers for Disease Control. This proves the author is qualified to be providing

facts and statistics regarding the opioid crisis. I know the author has adequate information to

write the article because the author works for the CDC where his job is to report statistics

regarding death patterns in the United States. I know the source is reliable because the

information comes straight from the CDC website which is a government-sponsored website.

I will use the information from this article to incorporate factual and statistical values

regarding deaths from the opioid crisis into my essay. Using these values, I can describe the

severity of the epidemic the United States is combating today.

Zezza, Mark A., and Marcus A. Bachhuber. “Payments from Drug Companies to

Physicians Are Associated with Higher Volume and More Expensive Opioid Analgesic

Prescribing.” PLoS ONE, vol. 13, no. 12, Dec. 2018, pp. 1–15. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209383. https://eds-a-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=91ec3620-3fea-40bc-890a-

a0432355416c%40sessionmgr101&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=13363

5065&db=fsr

Payments from Drug Companies to Physicians Are Associated with Higher Volume and

More Expensive Opioid Analgesic Prescribing was written by Mark Zezza. This article appeared

on PLoS ONE on December 19, 2018. The writer states while the rise in opioid analgesic

prescribing and overdose deaths was multifactorial, financial relationships between opioid drug
 Blake 9

manufacturers and physicians may be one important factor. The article presented information

from a study that investigated different physicians from different years between 2013 and 2017

that received opioid-related payments. The study separated different physicians from differnet

states where laws are different. The information included in this article is separated year by year

to pinpoint the accuracy. The article displays the results from the study to be easily viewed.

The writer's purpose is to share with the public information regarding physicians and

payments received from opioid sales. The audience for this piece is the general public. This

article was written right at the end of 2018 which proves the relevancy of the information. This

information is up-to-date and accurate for its timeframe.

The writer is Mark Zezza. I know the author is credible because he is the director of

policy and research at The New York State Health Foundation. I know the author has adequate

information to write the article because the information comes from the Public Library of

Science (PLoS). This information is fact checked and removed of bias information, media, and

words from articles.

I will use the facts and statistical values from this article to describe how physicians

received payments for sold opioids from drug manufacturers and how this led to the opioid crisis

our nation faces. I can use the evidence from this article to further support my argument that

doctors directly played a major role in the cause of the opioid crisis.
Blake 10