Study: More Than Half of Prescribed Opioids Go to Patients With Mental Disorders

The 16% of Americans who have mental health disorders receive more than half of all opioids prescribed in the U.S., according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine. The researchers, from the University of Michigan and Dartmouth College, estimated that among the 38.6 million Americans with mental health disorders, 18.7% use prescription opioids. Adults with mental health conditions received 60 million of the 115 million prescriptions distributed in the U.S., or 51.4%, the study found. “Such a relationship is particularly concerning because men...