MY TURN: Help combat Idaho opioid crisis
Dr. Steve Olson
For centuries, opioids have played a role in medicine: healers relied on them to ease suffering, yet they've always been dangerously addictive. For example, morphine, an early 19th-century discovery, offered incredible relief for pain, battlefield wounds and other ailments.
The landscape shifted dramatically for opioids in the 1980s and 1990s when opioids like Vicodin started to be used in post-surgical and cancer treatment scenarios, prompting more widespread usage. Before the 1980s, opioids were not as commonly used and were reserved for the most extreme medical situations.
Become a Subscriber!
You have read all of your free articles this month. Select a plan below to start your subscription today.
Already a subscriber? Login
