Secular trends in opioid prescribing in the USA

Abstract

Opioid abuse and misuse in the USA is a public health crisis. The use of prescription opioid analgesics increased substantially from 2002 through 2010, then plateaued and began to decrease in 2011. This study examined prescriptions of branded and generic immediate- and extended-release opioid analgesics from 1992 to 2016. This was juxtaposed against state and federal policies designed to decrease overutilization and abuse, as well as the launch of new opioid products, including opioids with abuse-deterrent properties (OADPs). The data indicate that these health policies, including the utilization and reimbursement of OADPs, have coincided with decreased opioid utilization. The hypothesis that OADPs will paradoxically increase opioid prescribing is not supported.

Video abstract

Point your SmartPhone at the code above. If you have a QR code reader the video abstract will appear. Or use:

http://youtu.be/svVxELK_Vik

Keywords:

• OADP
• prescription
• utilization trends
• legislation
• opioids

Supplementary material

Table S1 Trends of opioid prescription data by year

Disclosure

EJP is a consultant. DR, JGE, JDH, and TJM are employees of Purdue Pharma L.P. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.