Mortality and Socioeconomic Consequences of Prescription Opioids: Evidence from State Policies

Abstract

This article presents estimates of the effects of state prescription opioid policies on prescription opioid sales, mortality and socioeconomic outcomes of adults. Results indicate that state implementation of a "modern" PDMP is associated with decreases in opioid sales of between 5% and 20% and that pill mill laws are associated with a decrease in opioid sales of between 15% and 50%. The reductions in prescription opioid sales associated with these state policies were, in general, not associated with statistically significant effects on mortality. In the case of socioeconomic outcomes, we found consistent evidence that the adoption of a "modern" PDMP was associated with small, but statistically significant reductions in employment of 1% to 2% across all demographic groups examined; small reductions in earnings that were not statistically significant and similarly small, marginally significant increases in receipt of public assistance, particularly for women; and a significant, but small (1%) decline in the probability of being married among females. In contrast, pill mill laws were associated with marginally significant increases in employment of 1% to 2%, but only among those ages 18 to 25; small, but insignificant increases in earnings of males of between 2% to 4%; and a significant, but small (1%) decline in the probability of being married among all demographic groups.

The Evolving Consequences of OxyContin Reformulation on Drug Overdoses

“…The above exercise assumes that these policies would have still been adopted. 11 For example, PDMPs have been widely-adopted and strengthened with evidence that these more robust and modern PDMPs reduce misuse (Buchmueller and Carey, 2018;Kaestner and Ziedan, 2019) and overdose rates (e.g., Pardo, 2017;Dowell et al, 2016;Patrick et al, 2016). Popovici et al (2018) find evidence that both pain management and doctor shopping laws reduce opioid-related overdoses.…”

Prescription drug monitoring programs, opioid abuse, and crime

“…They also confirm the broader findings and find statistically and economically significant reductions in these measures of misuse, with the largest effects concentrated on Rx opioid misuse and among young adults ages 18–24 (32% decline in treatment admissions and 26% decline in opioid‐related mortality). Kaestner and Ziedan (2019) provide evidence of a significant first‐stage with respect to prescribing patterns, and show that the adoption of a modern PDMP system accessible to all users is associated with a 4–8% decrease in retail opioid prescriptions.…”

Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs, Opioid Abuse, and Crime

“…They also confirm the broader findings and find statistically and economically significant reductions in these measures of misuse, with the largest effects concentrated on Rx opioid misuse and among young adults ages 18-24 (32% decline in treatment admissions and 26% decline in opioid-related mortality). 11 Kaestner and Ziedan (2019) provide evidence of a significant first-stage with respect to prescribing patterns, and show that the adoption of a modern PDMP system accessible to all users is associated with a 4-8% decrease in retail opioid prescriptions.…”

“…17 Mallatt (2019) focuses solely on heroin and opioid crime, specifically related to possession, in order to gauge spillovers from restricted access to Rx opioids on substitution into illicit opioids. Kaestner and Ziedan (2019) consider broader socioeconomic outcomes including employment, earnings, public assistance, and marital status, and find little evidence that state interventions targeting Rx opioids are significantly associated with these outcomes.…”