State-based prescription drug monitoring programs prove helpful in reducing opioid-related deaths in the U.S., according to a study in the journal Health Affairs.
Drug monitoring programs are state-run electronic databases that track the prescribing and dispensing of controlled prescription drugs to patients, and monitor for suspected abuse or illegal diversion, according to the CDC.
Stephen W. Patrick, MD, pediatrician at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tenn., and lead author of the study, analyzed mortality data from 1999-2013 to evaluate the effectiveness of the drug monitoring programs, according to Reuters.
Here are six things to know about the study's findings:
- Drug monitoring programs help prevent 10 opioid overdose deaths a day in the U.S. on average.
- State programs that tracked a greater number of addictive medications and updated their databases weekly showed the biggest drops in overdose deaths.
- The average opioid overdose death rate for the 34 states included in the study rose from 1.4 per 100,000 in 1999 to 6.2 per 100,000 in 2013.
- Average annual death rates dropped by 1.12 per 100,000 in states that started drug monitoring programs.
- Missouri is the only state that does not use a drug monitoring program and has an opioid-related overdose death rate that is increasing faster than the national average.
- Researchers calculated that implementing drug monitoring programs in all states and strengthening existing ones could prevent an additional 600 opioid overdose deaths this year.
More articles on supply chain:
UPMC, IBM team up for better hospital supply chains
FDA stops Juno's cancer drug trials after 3 patients die
6 latest FDA approvals