Between 1999 and 2014, 1 out of 10 children enrolled in Tennessee's Medicaid program were prescribed opioids, according to a study published in Pediatrics.
For the study, researchers analyzed state Medicaid data on children ages two to 17 who did not have a serious chronic diseases, prolonged hospitalization, institutional residence or evidence of a substance use disorder during the study period.
Here are four things to know:
1. Over the 15-year period, physicians in Tennessee prescribed more than 1.3 million opioids to children, even though the FDA only recommends prescribing opioids to minors with "severe conditions" such as sickle cell anemia and cancer.
2. About 31 percent of opioid prescriptions for children were given after a dental procedure, followed by outpatient procedures (21.5 percent of prescriptions), trauma cases (18.1 percent) and infections (16.5 percent).
3. One out of every 2,611 prescriptions was linked to an opioid-related emergency department visit, hospitalization or death.
4. Researchers suggested these prescriptions to children without severe conditions can cause unnecessary exposure and urged physicians to consider alternative options to opioids before prescribing.
"The study doesn't suggest patients demand opioids," Stephen Patrick, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics and health policy at Vanderbilt University based Nashville, Tenn., told Newsweek. "The opioid epidemic is complex, it's complicated, it has patient and physician-level origins. But I think what a study like this highlights is that opioids are not benign and should be used when they are appropriate for the shortest duration possible."
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