Pain medications leading to overdose

(CNN) - Pain can be a serious health problem. Many patients live with chronic pain and rely on medication to help them deal with it. But now a new study finds these narcotics, if not taken properly, can cause their own health issues.

They are called opioids a form of narcotics used to treat pain. And according to a group of pain management specialists, doctors are increasingly prescribing these addictive drugs like vicodin and oxycodone to patients.

The results of their study are published in the "Annals of Internal Medicine."

The study says as long-term opioid therapy becomes more common, deaths associated with these drugs are also increasing.

Researchers studied more than 9,900 adults who were on opioid prescriptions for chronic pain problems. Those problems included back or neck pain, headache, jaw pain, arthritis and menstrual cramps.

51 of those patients had one or more overdose events during follow-up. 6 of those events were fatal.

An overdose is when a person takes a drug in amounts greater than what is recommended. Most overdoses are considered harmful and dangerous because they can result in the death of a patient.

Even those on low doses of opioids are at risk. Doctors who worked on the study noted, although the drugs do provide a benefit,
there needs to be close medical supervision of patients receiving long-term opioid therapy, no matter how potent the patient's dose.