Report Shows Opioid Prescriptions May Require Closer Regulation
The face of drug addiction is changing. While the traditional picture of substance abuse may bring to mind a young person who is perpetually down on their luck, increasing levels of prescription drug abuse is becoming prevalent among middle class populations as they become hooked on prescription opioids.
A new report issued from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a department of the National Institutes on Health, looked at trends in prescription drugs to determine whether current practices are working to reduce the risk of prescription drug addiction. The results are published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The report showed that over half of the patients who received a prescription for opioids had filled an additional opioid prescription in the past 30 days. NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, M.D. explained that it is important to examine current practices and determine why so many patients are able to obtain multiple opioid prescriptions.
The information provided by NIDA is coming at a critical time. From 1991 to 2009 prescriptions for opioids nearly tripled, and the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) system reports that emergency department visits due to opioids has doubled from 2005 to 2009. Many who struggle with opioid addiction say that they get the drugs from friends or relatives with prescriptions or they are misusing their own prescriptions.
The report from NIDA utilized information from the Vector One National database, obtained from SDI, a privately-owned company that tracks prescriptions. The research focused on 79.5 million prescriptions issued in the United States during 2009, which equates to approximately 40 percent of all opioid prescriptions issued nationally.
The researchers analyzed the information by physician specialty, patient age, duration of prescription and whether it was one of multiple opioid prescriptions filled by the same patient within 30 days. The analysis focused on prescriptions issued to younger people, who are at a higher risk than older adults for developing an opioid addiction.
The report indicated that 56 percent of the prescriptions issued for painkillers were given to patients who filled an additional painkiller prescription within the past month. Nearly 12 percent of the opioids prescribed were issued to people aged 10 to 29 years. Approximately 46 percent of opioid prescriptions were for individuals between the ages of 40 and 59, generally issued by primary care providers.
The information provided by the report highlights the prevalence of opioid prescription abuse in the United States. The results will be helpful to states determining how to regulate opioid prescriptions so that patients are not so easily able to fill multiple orders for opioids within the same month.
