U.S. Hydrocodone Prescriptions Dropping
http://www.painnewsnetwork.org/stories/2015/4/14/us-hydrocodone-prescriptions-dropping
By Pat Anson, Editor
The number of prescriptions filled in the U.S. for hydrocodone declined in 2014, an early sign that restrictions on the widely used opioid painkiller are starting to have an impact.
According to the IMS Institute, 119.2 million prescriptions for hydrocodone pain medications were dispensed by pharmacies last year — down from 129.5 million the year before – a decline of 8 percent. Hydrocodone is typically combined with acetaminophen in Vicodin, Lortab, Lorcet, Norco, and other hydrocodone products.
The IMS report also found that levothyroxine – a synthetic hormone used to treat thyroid deficiency — has replaced hydrocodone as the #1 most widely filled prescription in the U.S.
The decline in hydrocodone prescriptions is striking because it was only in the last three months of 2014 that the painkiller was reclassified by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration from a Schedule III drug to a more restrictive Schedule II medication.
The DEA and Food and Drug Administration have been under pressure to restrict access to opioids because of the so-called epidemic of prescription drug abuse. Over 16,000 Americans die annually from painkiller overdoses, although most of those deaths involved other drugs or alcohol.
The rescheduling of hydrocodone limits pain patients to an initial 90-day supply of hydrocodone — and also requires them to see a doctor for a new prescription each time they need a refill. Prescriptions for Schedule II drugs also cannot be phoned or faxed in by physicians.
Since the rescheduling, many patients have complained that their doctors were no longer willing to prescribe hydrocodone and that pharmacists were unwilling to fill valid prescriptions. A recent survey found that many pain patients had suicidal thoughts after being denied a prescription. Others said that rescheduling hard been harmful to their relationship with their doctor.
Hydrocodone prescriptions were dropping even before the rescheduling took effect. They peaked in 2011 with nearly 137 million prescriptions filled by pharmacies.
The IMS report found that prescriptions of tramadol, a weaker Schedule III opioid, rose by over 5% in 2014 – a possible sign that tramadol is being used as a substitute for hydrocodone. The number of tramadol prescriptions being dispensed has nearly doubled since 2010 from 28 million to over 44.2 million in 2014.
Total spending on medications in the U.S. rose over 10% to $373.9 billion in 2014, with a record volume of 4.3 billion prescriptions filled, according to the IMS.
Filed under: General Problems
My mother had a GI Bleed while on Tramadol. No one read the side effects for geriatric patients before perscribing it. The GI doctors, Hospital doctors nor ER doctors read side effects!
She later died.
Interesting that there are no stats on Tylenol #3 and #4 usage which are still C-III
So, what are the statistics on pain medications that are stronger than hydrocodone, like Oxy and Fentynal? Have those increased as hydrocodone usage has decreased?
And why not connect the decreased access to hydrocodone to both the increase in suicides and heroin use and overdoses? Because that’s what the results seem to show.
Hydrocodone was so popular because it worked the best for the largest number of people. Many patients can’t tolerate the other available pain medications. So, all this information tells me is that there are thousands if not millions of patients who are now suffering, and for what? Are there any positives to the decrease in hydrocodone usage? If there are, I can’t find them.
Thankful I’m in pain management. It’s been extremely helpful in me getting the pain medication i need.