Pain Reliever Misuse Decreased by 11% in 2018

https://nabp.pharmacy/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Kentucky-Newsletter-December-2019.pdf

NSDUH Survey IndicatesPrescription drug misuse, including abuse of stimulants and pain relievers, decreased in 2018, according to the recently released 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). The annual survey, conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administra-tion (SAMHSA), a division of HHS, is a primary resource for data on mental health and substance use, including abuse of prescription drugs, among Americans. Key findings of the 2018 NSDUH include: ♦Past-year abuse of psycotherapeutics decreased from6.6 from 6.2%.♦Past-year abuse of pain relievers decreased from 4.1%to 3.6%.♦Past-year abuse of stimulants decreased from 2.1%to 1.9%.♦Past-year abuse of opioids decreased from 4.2% to3.7%.“This year’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health contains very encouraging news:

The number of Americans misusing pain relievers dropped substantially, and fewer young adults are abusing heroin and other substances,” said HHS Secretary Alex Azar. “At the same time, many challenges remain, with millions of Americans not receiving treatment they need for substance abuse and mental illness.

Connecting Americans to evidence-based treatment, grounded in the best science we have, is and will remain a priority for President Donald Trump, for HHS, and for SAMHSA under Assistant Secretary Elinore McCance-Katz.” A recorded presentation of the data, along with a written summary and the full report are available on the SAMHSA website at https://www.samhsa.gov/data/nsduh/reports-detailed-tables-2018-NSDUH.Additional Efforts Needed to Improve Naloxone Access, CDC Says A new Vital Signs report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that naloxone dispensing has grown dramatically since 2012, with rates of naloxone prescriptions dispensed more than doubling from 2017 to 2018 alone. However, the rate of naloxone dispensed per high-dose opioid dispensed remains low, with just one naloxone prescription dispensed for every 69 high-dose opioid prescriptions.The researchers for the report examined dispensing data from IQVIA, a health care, data science, and technology company that maintains information on prescriptions from 50,400 retail pharmacies, representing 92% of all prescrip-tions in the US. According to their analysis, dispensing rates were higher for female recipients than for male recipients, and higher for persons aged 60-64 years than for any other age group. The researchers also found that the rate of nal-oxone prescriptions dispensed varied substantially across US counties, with rural and micropolitan counties more likely to have a low-dispensing rate. “Comprehensively addressing the opioid overdose epi-demic will require efforts to improve naloxone access and distribution in tandem with efforts to prevent initiation of opioid misuse, improve opioid prescribing, implement harm reduction strategies, promote linkage to medications for opioid use disorder treatment, and enhance public health and public safety partnerships,” the report states in its con-clusion. “Distribution of naloxone is a critical component of the public health response to the opioid overdose epidemic.”The Vital Signs report can be accessed at www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/68/wr/mm6831e1.htm.

If you notice there is no mention of chronic pain pts getting any treatment

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