IN HR0024

One in four individuals receiving long-term prescription opioids for non-cancer pain become addicted, and 91 Americans die daily from opioid overdose.

Individuals addicted to prescription opioid painkillers are 40 times more likely to become addicted to heroin, with a 200 percent increase in overdose deaths involving opioid pain relievers and heroin since 2000.

Indiana ranked ninth highest among states in pain prescriptions written per 100 people in 2012, with opioid pain relievers responsible for 488 deaths in Indiana in 2016.

The American Physical Therapy Association declares physical therapy a safe and effective alternative for pain treatment and enhancement of health, well-being, and quality of life through movement and education.

The Indiana House of Representatives urges physical therapists to raise public awareness of physical therapy's role in reducing the opioid epidemic and treating chronic pain, and directs the Principal Clerk to transmit the resolution to the Indiana Chapter of the American Physical Therapy Association.