Politics & Government

World of Hurt: NH Confronts Painkiller Prescribing Trend

Governor Hassan says the state is working to implement a prescription drug monitoring program to help counter the trend.

New Hampshire prescribes more painkiller pills, such as OxyContin and other opioid or narcotic pain relievers, than most states in the Northeast, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gov. Maggie Hassan said New Hampshire is working quickly to "implement a prescription drug monitoring program and the substance use disorder benefit that is part of our bipartisan health care expansion plan."

"The rising rate of substance use in New Hampshire, especially for highly addictive opioids, is one of our most serious public health and safety challenges," Hassan said in response to the CDC report. "Prescription drug abuse, which is often linked to heroin use, remains high, and the Centers for Disease Control report reinforces this alarming trend." (Read Governor Hassan's full statement)

Health care providers wrote 259 million prescriptions in 2012, enough for every American to have a bottle of pain pills, according to the CDC "Vital Signs" report released this month.

"Prescription drug overdose is epidemic in the United States. All too often, and in far too many communities, the treatment is becoming the problem," the CDC Director, Dr. Tom Frieden, said in a press release. "Overdose rates are higher where these drugs are prescribed more frequently. States and practices where prescribing rates are highest need to take a particularly hard look at ways to reduce the inappropriate prescription of these dangerous drugs."

Some of the CDC report's findings include:
  • Southern states – Alabama, Tennessee, and West Virginia in particular – had the most painkiller prescriptions per person.
  • The Northeast, especially Maine and New Hampshire, had the most prescriptions per person for long-acting/extended-release painkillers and for high-dose painkillers.
  • State variation was the greatest for oxymorphone (a specific type of painkiller), among all prescription painkillers. Nearly 22 times as many prescriptions were written for oxymorphone in Tennessee as were written in Minnesota.
The CDC reported that prescription drug prescribing varies widely from state to state, but "Vital Signs" notes that some of the increased demand for the painkillers is from people who use them without a prescription or for the high.


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