COLUMBUS – Fewer opioids are being handed out to Ohioans than four years ago and that is being interpreted as progress in the battle against the state’s epidemic of drug use.
According to a report issued by the state Board of Pharmacy Wednesday, the number of opiate-based drugs dispensed dropped by 20.4 percent, from a high of 793 million in 20012 to a little over 630 million last year, and the number of prescriptions declined by about the same amount.
Opioid use has become a concern in the state because of its link to prescription painkiller abuse and heroin use. Ohio led the nation in overdose deaths last year.
The report from the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System also showed that the practice of “doctor shopping,” where a patient visits multiple physicians in hopes of receiving drugs or prescriptions, has declined by 78.2 percent.
The OARRS was established in 2006 to collect information on prescriptions for controlled substances. Data is available to physicians and pharmacists when they are given prescriptions and to police during active investigations.