SEATTLE — The rate of opioid use varies considerably from state to state, federal prescription claims data show.
That variation is inexplicable medically, suggesting that opioids are being used too liberally in some states, or not enough in others, or both, Dr. Judy T. Zerzan said in a poster presentation at the annual research meeting of Academy Health.
Medicare and Medicaid prescribing figures from the start of 1996 to the end of 2002 show that opioid prescribing nationally increased a mean of 24% per year, noted Dr. Zerzan of the division of general internal medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle.
The 10 states with the highest rates were Alaska, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, and West Virginia. The eight states with the lowest rates were California, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Vermont. States may differ in terms of prescription benefit policies, marketing of the drugs, and physician attitudes toward opioids, Dr. Zerzan said.