State Legal Restrictions and Prescription-Opioid Use among Disabled Adults.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In response to rising rates of opioid abuse and overdose, U.S. states enacted laws to restrict the prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances. The effect of these laws on opioid use is unclear.

Methods

We tested associations between prescription-opioid receipt and state controlled-substances laws. Using Medicare administrative data for fee-for-service disabled beneficiaries 21 to 64 years of age who were alive throughout the calendar year (8.7 million person-years from 2006 through 2012) and an original data set of laws (e.g., prescription-drug monitoring programs), we examined the annual prevalence of beneficiaries with four or more opioid prescribers, prescriptions yielding a daily morphine-equivalent dose (MED) of more than 120 mg, and treatment for no

SUBMITTER: Meara E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4985562 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature