Drug Enforcement Agency 2014 Hydrocodone Rescheduling Rule and Opioid Dispensing after Surgery.

ABSTRACT:

Background

In 2014, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency reclassified hydrocodone from Schedule III to Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act, resulting in new restrictions on refills. The authors hypothesized that hydrocodone rescheduling led to decreases in total opioid dispensing within 30 days of surgery and reduced new long-term opioid dispensing among surgical patients.

Methods

The authors studied privately insured, opioid-naïve adults undergoing 10 general or orthopedic surgeries between 2011 and 2015. The authors conducted a differences-in-differences analysis that compared overall opioid dispensing before versus after the rescheduling rule for patients treated by surgeons who frequently prescribed hydrocodone before rescheduling (i.e., patients who were functional

SUBMITTER: Neuman MD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7160003 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature