Use of painkillers in Norway has multiplied in 15 years

The use of the analgesic drug Oksykodon has doubled in Norway over the past 15 years. The same drug is linked to the epidemic of overdose deaths in the United States.

There are figures from the Prescription Register that show that the use of Oksykodon  has skyrocketed in Norway in recent years, writes NRK.

The drug Oksykodon  has been blamed for creating a new group of drug addicts in the United States and for causing many deaths. In Norway, too, more people are now dying from legal drug overdoses, such as heroin, according to the channel.

Director Thomas Clausen of the Center for Substance Abuse and Addiction Research at the University of Oslo is concerned about the development.

– Now, I don’t think we’ll end up where the United States is, with thousands of deaths associated with this drug. But we ask for caution because we would like to reverse this development early, and before it becomes a public health disaster in Norway, Clausen tells NRK.

Leader Marte Kvittum Tangen of the Norwegian Association for General Medicine tells the channel that they have taken measures to reduce the use of the preparation. She says Oksykodon  was more addictive than they were aware when it was introduced to the Norwegian market.

Kvittum Tangen says they advise doctors to be careful about prescribing the drug and advise doctors to choose other types of painkillers.

© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today