Medicaid patients continue high prescription opioid use after overdose
For every fatal opioid overdose, there are approximately 30 nonfatal overdoses . Nonfatal overdoses that receive medical attention represent intervention opportunities for clinicians to mitigate risk by reducing opioid prescribing or advocating addiction treatment. Studies evaluating commercially insured patients suggest these potential interventions are underutilized. Julie M. Donohue, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, and colleagues used 2008-2013 claims data for all Pennsylvania Medicaid enrollees ages 12 to 64 years with a heroin or prescription opioid overdose to compare prescription opioid use, duration of opioid use, and rates of medication-assisted treatment (MAT; buprenorphine, methadone, or naltrexone) before and after an overdose event. The analysis included 6,013 patients with an overdose event (2,068 with a heroin overdose and 3,945 with a prescription opioid overdose). The researchers found that any filled opioid prescription de...