Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH President | Official website
A new report highlights the urgent need for action to address the overdose epidemic. Key findings from the report show a significant decrease in opioid prescriptions, with a 51.7 percent reduction since 2012. State-level decreases during this period ranged from 36 to 68 percent. In addition, state prescription drug monitoring programs were used over 1.4 billion times in 2023, a sharp increase from their usage of just 61 million times in 2014.
Buprenorphine dispensed by retail pharmacies has reached a plateau due to factors such as longer prescriptions and reluctance by pharmacies to stock it, along with confusion over DEA requirements. Meanwhile, naloxone prescriptions have risen significantly, increasing from approximately 555,000 in 2018 to nearly 2.2 million by 2023.
Bobby Mukkamala, MD, AMA president-elect and chair of the AMA Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force stated: “Half-measures and outdated policies are costing lives, and we urge policymakers to act.” He emphasized the need for an unwavering commitment to expanding access to lifesaving medications and addressing gaps in harm reduction.
The report provides a national overview of the epidemic while offering best practices and policy recommendations for state and federal policymakers. These include enforcing mental health parity laws more effectively, increasing access to medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD), eliminating punitive measures against individuals relying on MOUD during pregnancy or parenting, removing restrictive opioid therapy policies that contradict CDC guidelines, requiring payers to improve access to non-opioid pain care options, increasing naloxone availability across various settings, and supporting funding for evidence-based harm reduction initiatives.
Dr. Mukkamala added: “The AMA...urge[s] policymakers...to once and for all remove barriers to evidence-based treatment for substance use disorders...Delays or denials of this care only result in increased suffering and death.”
