Inappropriate prescribing of opioids for patients undergoing surgery.

Nathan H Varady; Christopher M Worsham; Antonia F Chen; Eric L Smith; Jaemin Woo; Anupam B. Jena

Study

Inappropriate prescribing of opioids for patients undergoing surgery.

December 21, 2022

Varady NH, Worsham CM, Chen AF, et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2022;119(49):e2210226119.

View more articles from the same authors.

Safe prescribing dictates that prescriptions should only be written for the patients who are intended to use the prescribed medications. Using claims data, this analysis identified a high rate of opioid prescriptions written for and filled by the spouses of patients undergoing outpatient surgery (who may be unable to fill prescriptions themselves after surgery). Findings suggest intentional, clinically inappropriate prescribing of opioids.

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