Ohio ranks 12th in the number of pain prescriptions with 100 per 100 people, according to a CDC report.
A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranks states by the number of painkiller prescriptions per capita, and Ohio ranks 12th, with 100 per 100 people, according to the 2012 data in the report. Alabama (143), Tennessee (143) and West Virginia (138) are the three highest-prescribing states, while Hawaii (52), California (57), New York (60), Minnesota (62) and New Jersey (63) were the lowest.
According to the CDC: "Health issues that cause people pain don't vary much from place to place—not enough to explain why, in 2012, health care providers in the highest-prescribing state wrote almost 3 times as many opioid painkiller prescriptions per person as those in the lowest prescribing state in the US. Or why there are twice as many painkiller prescriptions per person in the US as in Canada. Data suggest that where health care providers practice influences how they prescribe. Higher prescribing of painkillers is associated with more overdose deaths."
The report offers recommendations for states to address the high numbers of prescription painkillers. Many of those recommendations are reflected in Ohio's recent or pending legislative actions to curb prescription drug availability and abuse. The CDC report identifies states that have taken action and seen significant results. For instance, in 2010, Florida regulated pain clinics and stopped health care providers from dispensing prescription painkillers from their offices. By 2012, Florida showed a 50% decrease in overdose deaths from oxycodone. New York in 2012 required prescribers to check a statewide prescription drug monitoring database before prescribing, and in 2013 saw a 75 percent drop in patients who were seeing multiple prescribers for the same drugs, greatly reducing risk of overdose.
The CDC report may also be downloaded as a PDF document here.
According to the CDC: "Health issues that cause people pain don't vary much from place to place—not enough to explain why, in 2012, health care providers in the highest-prescribing state wrote almost 3 times as many opioid painkiller prescriptions per person as those in the lowest prescribing state in the US. Or why there are twice as many painkiller prescriptions per person in the US as in Canada. Data suggest that where health care providers practice influences how they prescribe. Higher prescribing of painkillers is associated with more overdose deaths."
The report offers recommendations for states to address the high numbers of prescription painkillers. Many of those recommendations are reflected in Ohio's recent or pending legislative actions to curb prescription drug availability and abuse. The CDC report identifies states that have taken action and seen significant results. For instance, in 2010, Florida regulated pain clinics and stopped health care providers from dispensing prescription painkillers from their offices. By 2012, Florida showed a 50% decrease in overdose deaths from oxycodone. New York in 2012 required prescribers to check a statewide prescription drug monitoring database before prescribing, and in 2013 saw a 75 percent drop in patients who were seeing multiple prescribers for the same drugs, greatly reducing risk of overdose.
The CDC report may also be downloaded as a PDF document here.
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