Prescription-drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), which require physicians to check drug registries before writing prescriptions, dramatically cut the odds of doctor shopping for opioid pain relievers, according to researchers from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The PDMPs are electronic databases that track prescribing of controlled substances and identify people at high risk of misusing the drugs. The researchers analyzed annual nationwide surveys of drug use and health from 2004 to 2014, when 36 states implemented PDMPs. Their paper is the first to examine the role of PDMPs on individual-level opioid-related outcomes.
Every state except Missouri now has a PDMP. In some states it is mandatory to have a PDMP, but in some states it is voluntarily implemented. In states with mandatory checking, the odds that ≥ 2 doctors would be giving pain relievers for nonmedical purposes to a single patient were reduced by 80%. In states with voluntary monitoring, the odds dropped by 56%.
PDMPs also were associated with 10 to 20 fewer days of use of painkillers for nonmedical purposes in the previous year.