COLUMBUS – The number of opioids prescribed to Ohioans declined for the fifth consecutive year in 2017, from a high of 793 million doses in 2012 to 558 million last year, according to a report from the State Board of Pharmacy
The decline of 225 million doses is a 28.4 percent drop while the number of prescriptions declined 26.2 percent, according to data from the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System.
Reducing the number of prescriptions and doses of opioid pain medication handed out by doctors and pharmacists is considered a key component of fighting the state’s opioid crisis.
“It is widely accepted that prescription opioid abuse often progresses to the use of heroin and other illicit drugs. That is why Ohio’s efforts to reduce exposure to prescription opioids are essential to combatting this public health crisis,” said Tracy Plouck, director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
OARRS collects information on all outpatient prescriptions for controlled substances and one non-controlled substance, gabapentin, dispensed by pharmacies or prescribers.
In central Ohio, Franklin County saw the most dramatic decline in doses – 24.6 million – a 31 percent drop from the 79.3 million which were reported in 2012l, itself a decline from more than 80 million reported in 2010, the report stated.
During the first nine months of 2017, Franklin County saw 383 overdose-related deaths, more than in all of 2016, according to a report from the office of Franklin County Coroner Dr. Anahi Ortiz. The data for the full year have not been released.
Central Ohio as a region mirrored the state’s trend, with dosages falling 28 percent to 85.7 million in 2017 from 118.9 million in 2012.
Pickaway County saw the highest rate of doses — 72 per 100,000 residents – in central Ohio but that was an improvement over the 88.6 doses reported in 2012.
The lowest rate – 35.2 per 100,000 – was reported in Delaware County.
The data also show a continuing decrease in the number of patients going from doctor to doctor in search of drugs thanks to the pharmacy board’s computerized reporting system, with an 88 percent drop since 2012.
Ohio saw a record 4,050 overdose deaths last year.