Pain and prejudice

Arendt said these stigmatizing judgments are not reserved only for his pain patients. In fact, he argues that the stigma surrounding opioids is negatively affecting both patients with pain and patients who struggle with opioid use disorder. 

Arendt, PharmD, assistant professor in the University of Cincinnati’s James L. Winkle College of Pharmacy and co-chair of the pain stewardship committee for UC Health, said the stigma that is affecting his patients is not new. In fact, he explains, many of these narratives date back hundreds of years, yet they still remain prevalent today.  

In a recent editorial published in the Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy, Arendt discusses the racist origins of United States drug policies that continue to have an effect today and proposes a strategic way forward with pharmacists taking the lead in the fight against the opioid epidemic.

Arendt was also recently a featured panelist for a discussion on the topic on WVXU's Cincinnati Edition and discussed the topic with Angenette Levy on 55KRC's Simply Medicine program.

Arendt said he believes it is important to recognize the history of how racism has affected drug policy in order to provide context for the present day. 

“The way that our DEA scheduled substances came to be, all of that has a history," he told Cincinnati Edition. "And that history is not always just based upon the drug and the safety of that drug and how it should be used. Unfortunately, historical racism has definitely been an impact in how these things came to be."

Looking to the past also shows that a criminal justice approach to drug policy is not very effective, whether it targets individual users or larger systems like pharmaceutical companies. 

In the past decade, Arendt notes, opioid prescription rates have declined sharply, but opioid overdoses are higher than ever. In addition, patients with real, severe pain are not getting the treatment they need and there is still not adequate access to treatment for those with opioid use disorder.

Arendt said he hopes that a good understanding of historical context will allow people to move beyond a single idea of what pain treatment, addiction services and drug policy has to look like. 

“We don’t have to choose between treating pain or preventing and treating addiction. We can do both,” he said. 

In addition to expanding treatment access, Arendt has been a strong local advocate of distributing naloxone, fentanyl test strips and sterile syringes to increase harm reduction efforts.

“I think that the more people understand the context behind our policies, and the state of the crisis, the more they will open up to harm reduction and other evidence-based methods that really help people who are struggling,” he said.

Specifically, Arendt said he believes that pharmacists are in a unique position to lead the way in developing new strategies to combat the opioid epidemic. Pharmacists are often some of the most accessible health care workers to the general public, and they also know these drugs the best, Arendt said.

“Opioids are incredible medications that are saviors for many, but they also can be a destroyer of lives. Working to maximize how many people receive effective pain control, while minimizing the negative experiences, is like walking a tightrope,” Arendt said. “That’s what pharmacists do. That’s exactly what we are trained for. It’s the reason the profession makes such a difference, not because we know the answers when things are black and white, but because we are able to walk that tightrope when clinically, things may be in the gray area.”

In the editorial, Arendt lays out three key strategies that can be led by pharmacists in an effort to change practices and provide more equitable care for all patients. He advocates for a reevaluation of programs and policy, the expansion of education and support for patients and increasing the accessibility of treatment and harm reduction services.

“The key strategies really are born out of what a lot of other incredible health care providers are seeing and doing. They come from lived experience,” he said. 

While working to increase the availability of harm reduction resources, Arendt said he has encountered many obstacles and red tape. 

“​​You work hard every day, and yet someone with power can dismiss you just like that and destroy weeks or months of your work, simply because they haven’t taken the time, or refuse to take the time to learn about these issues,” he said. “The public doesn’t always understand either, thinking you are ‘enabling’ or a ‘shill for big pharma.’”

Going forward, he said the health care industry needs to make it easier to develop policies and programs that help patients. Although the work is frustrating at times, Arendt said he is inspired to continue by his patients and colleagues who are battling every day to create a more equitable future and fight the opioid epidemic.

“To see others do that gives me so much hope,” he said. “It makes me believe in the goodness of others and the value in doing things for others, even when doing them makes things harder for you. That’s why I became a pharmacist in the first place, to have a position where I can advocate for the patients that haven’t historically been given a voice. That keeps me going.”

Listen to the Cincinnati Edition segment.

Listen to the Simply Medicine segment. (Note: Segment with Arendt begins around 32:37 mark.)

Featured photo at top courtesy of Unsplash.