Co-prescribing naloxone in Medicare Part D increases | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Co-prescribing naloxone in Medicare Part D increases | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Co-prescribing naloxone in Medicare Part D increases

Science Spotlight

August 06, 2019

Image by NIDA

The practice of co-prescribing the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone to Medicare Part D patients who take opioids for chronic pain increased between 2016 and 2017, though such co-prescriptions were provided to only a small minority of patients who might benefit, according to research led by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, all within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The study found that overall national rates for naloxone co-prescription along with any opioid among Medicare Part D patients increased from 1.5 per 1000 patients receiving opioid prescriptions in 2016 to 4.6 per 1000 in 2017.