Study: Florida’s anti-opioid abuse laws show results

BALTIMORE — A study conducted by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has found that Florida’s legislative efforts to curb opioid abuse seem to be having their desired effect. The study was published in JAMA Internal Medicine and looked into the efficacy of Florida’s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program and laws aiming to stop pill mills — clinics that dispensed or prescribed opioids recklessly. 

 

Researchers studied a group of 431,890, 296 pharmacies and 2.6 million patients between July 2010 and September 2012 in Florida and Georgia during which time about 7.7% of prescriptions were for opioids. At the outset, Florida’s monthly opioid volume and prescriptions dispensed were higher than Georgia’s. But the laws in Florida created statistically significant drops in the amount of opioids being prescribed and the volume in the state. 

 

A year after Florida’s laws took effect, opioid prescriptions dropped about 1.4%, opioid volume fell 2.4% and there was a 5.6% decrease in the morphine milligram equivalent per transaction. These reductions were highest among patients and prescribers with the highest baseline of opioid use and prescription. 

 

Subscribers to JAMA Internal Medicine can read the entire study here.