Association Between US State Medical Cannabis Laws and Opioid Prescribing in the Medicare Part D Population.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Opioid-related mortality increased by 15.6% from 2014 to 2015 and increased almost 320% between 2000 and 2015. Recent research finds that the use of all pain medications (opioid and nonopioid collectively) decreases in Medicare Part D and Medicaid populations when states approve medical cannabis laws (MCLs). The association between MCLs and opioid prescriptions is not well understood.

Objective

To examine the association between prescribing patterns for opioids in Medicare Part D and the implementation of state MCLs.

Design, setting, and participants

Longitudinal analysis of the daily doses of opioids filled in Medicare Part D for all opioids as a group and for categories of opioids by state and state-level MCLs from 2010 through 2015. Separate models were

SUBMITTER: Bradford AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6145794 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature