Drug Enforcement Agency 2014 Hydrocodone Rescheduling Rule and Opioid Dispensing after Surgery

Conclusions Among patients treated by surgeons who frequently prescribed hydrocodone before the Drug Enforcement Agency 2014 hydrocodone rescheduling rule, rescheduling did not impact long-term opioid receipt, although it was associated with an increase in opioid dispensing within 30 days of surgery.Editor ’s PerspectiveWhat We Already Know about This TopicHydrocodone is a commonly prescribed but also commonly misused analgesicThe rescheduling of hydrocodone from Schedule III to Schedule II by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency in 2014 was intended to reduce unnecessary hydrocodone useWhat This Article Tells Us That Is NewData derived from a large insurance database for a group of 10 common ambulatory orthopedic surgeries suggested that hydrocodone dispensing increased after rescheduling for the 30-day period after surgeryData from the same source showed no difference in hydrocodone prescribing from 90 to 180 days after surgery
Source: Anesthesiology - Category: Anesthesiology Source Type: research