NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO CHOOSE BETWEEN LIVING IN CHRONIC PAIN AND BATTLING ADDICTION.
Prolonged use can leave lasting damage, including addiction
It’s estimated that 7.1 million adults in England take prescribed opioid or gabapentinoid pain medications*1.
The number of prescriptions in England and Wales for opioid painkillers has risen dramatically from more than 14 million in 2008 to 23 million in 2018*2 – with the North East being the biggest culprit*3.
Across County Durham over 55,000 prescriptions for opioids and gabapentinoids are dispensed every month*4, with an estimated 8,000 patients a month taking a risky combination of two classes*4
- Source: Public Health England, 2019
- Source: Department of Health, 2019
- Source: Faculty of Pain Medicine, Royal College of Anaesthetists, 2019
- Source: BSA EPACT2, 2019
Painkillers Don’t Exist is an NHS campaign across both Sunderland and County Durham that aims to raise awareness of the dangerous effects of long-term, high-dose prescription pain medication and empower people living with pain to make
informed decisions about their health.