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Study
Opioid prescribing to US children and young adults in 2019.
September 1, 2021
Chua K-P, Brummett CM, Conti RM, et al. Pediatrics. 2021;148(3):e2021051539.
Despite public policies and guidelines to reduce opioid prescribing, providers continue to overprescribe these medications to children, adolescents, and young adults. In this analysis of US retail pharmacy data, 3.5% of US children and young adults were dispensed at least one opioid prescription; nearly half of those included at least one factor indicating they were high risk. Consistent with prior research, dentists and surgeons were the most frequent prescribers, writing 61% of all opiate prescriptions.
