Findings Regarding High-Volume Opioid Prescribers Debated

An often-referenced finding from the California Workers’ Compensation Institute is that 10% of prescribers are responsible for 80% of opioid prescriptions in workers’ comp in California. It’s important data to consider in developing strategies to battle what’s been called an epidemic of opioid abuse in the U.S. But research published Dec. 14 in the Journal of the American Medical Association – Internal Medicine shows a different pattern when Medicare data, rather than workers' comp claims, are evaluated. The JAMA study looks at opioid prescribing patte...