New data shows that the number of prescription opioid pills shipped in the U.S. continued to fall through the late 2010s even as the nation's overdose crisis deepened
The number of prescription opioid pills shipped in the U.S. in the second half of the 2010s decreased sharply even as a nationwide overdose crisis continued to deepen, according to data released Tuesday.
“We are still at an epidemic proportion of pills,” Peter Mougey, a lawyer representing governments that are suing drugmakers, distribution companies and pharmacies, said in an online news conference to release the data Tuesday.The distribution data is being released by lawyers after a judge ordered the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to share it with the plaintiffs.
The data showed how doctors were prescribing more powerful pills, even as the deaths added up. And it showed just how pervasive the drugs were: Each year, drug companies were shipping enough pills for everyone living in some counties — mostly in Appalachia — to have more than a 100-day supply. By the early 2010s, policymakers and doctors were restricting access to prescription opioids. People who had become addicted looked for other sources and found them in illicit pills, which are often counterfeit, and other street drugs. Heroin deaths increased dramatically, and so did those from illicit and potent synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, which are often added to other drugs by dealers.
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