It’s Going Down: CNBC Looks at Trends in Opioid Prescribing

​Changes in regulation and reimbursement policies have accelerated the decline of opioid prescriptions, according to an April 19, 2018, article from CNBC citing recently released data from Iqvia Institute for Human Data Science. The article was written shortly after U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, said in a speech that the number of prescriptions being written for opioids is still too high. (See HRC Alerts, April 11, 2018: DEA Taking Steps to Address IV Opioid Shortages; FDA Calls for More Rational Prescribing). According to CNBC, the number of opioid pills prescribed has dropped by 29% since its peak in 2011. In 2011, the article said, opioid usage was 72 pills per U.S. adult. That figure currently sits at 52 pills per U.S. adult.