The Drug Enforcement Administration proposed a new rule Oct. 23 aimed at preventing drugmakers from overproducing opioids.
Each year, the DEA sets a quota on how many opioid pills drugmakers are allowed to produce in the U.S. based on data from the FDA and drugmakers.
The proposed rule would limit excess quantities of drugs that could be diverted for illicit distribution and use.
The proposal comes after an internal watchdog report showed the agency allowed drugmakers to increase the production of opioids even as overdose deaths were skyrocketing. The report said the DEA permitted drugmakers to increase their production of oxycodone by 400 percent between 2002 and 2013 and didn't significantly reduce the quota until 2017, when overdose deaths in the U.S. peaked.
Drugmakers' opioid production quotas would be cut based on several factors, including the rates of overdose deaths and abuse and the overall effect on health related to specific controlled substances, the DEA said.
The proposed rule also seeks to formalize the practice of "use-specific" quotas to facilitate the issuance of more individualized quotas.