CDC Reports Rural-Urban Gap in Opioid Prescription

CDC Reports Rural-Urban Gap in Opioid Prescription

Introduction

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently reported that around 9% of rural residents received an opioid prescription in recent years as compared to 5% of urban residents. The reports were published in the latest edition of the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report using national electronic health record (EHR) data from 2014 to 2017.

Previous expert studies revealed that doctor prescription was the root cause of the opioid epidemic; in most cases, there was no legitimate need for painkillers. The prescriptions related to opioids declined after the CDC released new prescription guidelines for opioids in 2016. According to the guidelines, doctors must reduce unnecessary prescription. However, there was still a gap between prescribing rates among rural patients and urban patients even when prescribing rates declined in March 2017. Researchers warn that doctors are putting patients at risk for addiction and overdose by unwanted prescription.

Drug overdose deaths continue to mount in the U.S. and contribute to 70% of all drug overdose deaths. More than 1,600 opioid lawsuits, filed by opioid affected individuals, are consolidated into a multidistrict litigation MDL No. 2804 (In Re: National Prescription Opiate Litigation) overlooked by Judge Polster in the Northern District of Ohio. The first bellwether trial in the litigation has been set for September 2019, involving lawsuits filed by Cleveland and the Ohio counties of Cuyahoga and Summit.