Number of Opioid Prescriptions Down 43 Percent since 2011, Report Indicates

Bloomberg (5/9) says that “the volume of opioids prescribed in the U.S. fell 17% last year, the most in more than a quarter-century, as doctors have become increasingly cautious about giving out large amounts of the drugs amid an epidemic of abuse.” Prescriptions of opioids “are down 43% overall since their 2011 peak, according to a broad report published Thursday by IQVIA Holdings Inc.” The number “of opioid pills being dispensed is still huge. On average, there were enough opioid pills prescribed last year to give every adult in the U.S. the equivalent of 34 pills,” which is “down from the equivalent of 72 pills per adult in 2011.”