Opioids in Medicare Part D: Concerns About Extreme Use and Questionable Prescribing.
Opioids in Medicare Part D: Concerns About Extreme Use and Questionable Prescribing. Office of the Inspector General. Washington, DC: US Department of Health and Human Services; July 2017. Report No. OEI-02-17-00250.
Misuse of prescription opioids represents a serious patient safety issue. This data brief reviews federal Medicare statistics on opioid use by older Americans to highlight patient behaviors and provider prescribing patterns that could indicate, contribute to, or perpetuate unsafe opioid use.