Even though opioid overdoses reached their all-time peak in 2019, opioid prescriptions decreased by 37.1 percent from 2014-19, according to the most recent report from the American Medical Association's Opioid Task Force.
Here are some other notable findings from the report:
- Seventy-two percent of pain medicine specialists reported they have been required to decrease patients' prescription quantity or dosage.
- State prescription drug monitoring programs increased by 64.4 percent in 2019.
- More than 1 million naloxone prescriptions were distributed in 2019, compared to just 6,588 in 2015.
- More than 85,000 physicians and healthcare professionals are now certified to prescribe buprenorphine in their office, an increase of almost 50,000 since 2017.