Indication-Specific Opioid Prescribing for US Patients With Medicaid or Private Insurance, 2017

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Abstract
Opioids can be essential drugs for pain management but carry significant risk for harm. In 2017, more than one-third of the 47 600 opioid overdose deaths in the US involved prescription opioids.1 In 2018, approximately 1.7 million Americans aged 12 or older struggled with prescription opioid use disorder (OUD).2 Although an increasing proportion of people entering OUD treatment report initiating opioid use with heroin, a majority report that their problematic use began with prescription opioids.3 Longer duration of opioid therapy is associated with increased OUD risk,4 and higher dosages are associated with increased overdose risk.5 Harms extend beyond patients with prescriptions—a majority of people misusing prescription opioids report obtaining them from friends or family with prescriptions.2

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