A Practical Guide to Analytics for Governments

CHAPTER 5Prescription Drug Abuse

Steve Kearney

INTRODUCTION

In July 2016, the National Governors Association (NGA) released a Compact to Fight Opioid Addiction signed by 46 governors. This was the first time in more than 10 years that the NGA had worked on and released guidance on such an issue. The press release stated, “By signing the compact, governors are agreeing to redouble their efforts to fight the opioid epidemic with new steps to reduce inappropriate prescribing, change the nation’s understanding of opioids and addiction, and ensure a pathway to recovery for individuals suffering from addiction.” The Compact was necessary due to the overwhelming epidemic that is now prevalent in all states. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “The United States is in the midst of an opioid overdose epidemic. Opioids (including prescription opioid pain relievers and heroin) killed more than 33,000 people in 2015, more than any year on record. At least half of all opioid overdose deaths involve a prescription opioid. Ninety-one Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.”¹ That is one person dying every 15 minutes. This insidious problem has been growing since the late 1990s. I sat in Grand Rounds at Duke (the internal education sessions for providers) and distinctly remember case studies and new national guidelines that proposed the increased use of opioids for chronic non-cancer pain, thinking the U.S. health system was letting people suffer. Opioids ...