Deaths among opioid users: impact of potential inappropriate prescribing practices.

Inappropriate opioid prescribing increases risk of patient harm and misuse. In this retrospective study, researchers examined pharmacy claims data on Georgia Medicaid patients without cancer who were prescribed opioids. They found a higher odds of death among opioid users with at least a single incidence of inappropriate opioid prescribing compared to opioid users who did not experience inappropriate prescribing.