A history of opioid abuse: Why buprenorphine is superior for the management of opioid use disorder and pain.

Opioid abuse represents a public health crisis that has significant associated morbidity and mortality. Since beginning in the early 1990's, the opioid abuse epidemic has been difficult to control due to regulatory, economic, and psychosocial factors that have perpetuated its existence. This era of opioid abuse has been punctuated by three distinct rises in mortality, precipitated by unique public health problems that needed to be addressed.