Why Are More Doctors Prescribing Opioid Painkillers to Pregnant Women?

Despite the widespread opioid addiction and misuse across the United States, more doctors are prescribing pregnant women the prescription painkillers even without knowing risk factors for the developing fetus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report last July that focused on women and prescription painkillers such as Vicodin and OxyCotin. They found that about 18 women die every day due to prescription painkiller use and that since 2007, more women have died from painkillers than from car accidents.

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that over one in five pregnant women (23%) were prescribed opioid painkillers in 2007, compared to 18.5% back in 2000. According to a study published in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology, the statistics revealed that an overwhelming percentage of the 1.1 million pregnant women enrolled in Medicaid filled an opioid prescription during the time frame that was analyzed. Additionally, a study of 500,000 privately insured pregnant women found that 14% of these women filled an opioid prescription once during pregnancy.

More recent numbers will take a few years to be revealed, but this is still startling even for seven years ago. Statistics are available from 1992, when researchers found that over a 20-year span, opioid prescriptions increased from 76 million to 2010 million. Additionally, since 1999, prescription opioid-related deaths skyrocketed from 4,030 to 16,651 in 2010, according to this CNN News article.

These numbers, according to the CDC, also included a greater percentage increase among women, with a 400% increase in painkiller overdoses since 1999. It's puzzling why doctors would prescribe these dangerous and addictive prescription opioids to pregnant women. During pregnancy, women are already fairly sedentary, dealing with pain and feelings of sickness. 

"Opioid use in very early pregnancy is associated with an approximate doubling the risk of neural tube defects," said Martha M. Werler, a professor of epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health, in this Fox News article.

It's possible that the numbers have decreased since 2007; yet this seems unlikely, since recent reports revealed widespread abuse and misuse of opioids in the tri-state and New England areas. But since this issue is making news, hopefully medical experts and doctors can put a stop to the apparent growing problem.

To read more about prescription opioids and their harm to women, visit this ABC News article as well as this New York Times article.