Concluding Thoughts Pain is a large medical problem in the U.S. The total health care and economic costs from chronic pain are estimated to be as high as $635 billion a year. Prescription opioids provide relief for people suffering from chronic pain, and also help people suffering from short-term pain conditions–such as pain follow- ing traumatic injuries or post-surgery.
However, abuse of prescription opioids has also become a large societal problem. Opioids are now the most oft-abused drugs in the country responsible for more than 16,000 deaths a year and $55.7 billion in health care, workplace, and criminal justice costs a year. Consequently, the health care community requires new tools to ensure that pain patients can still have access to their medicines while helping to reduce the incidence of pre- scription opioid abuse.
Abuse-deterrent opioids have illustrated great value in meeting these goals. While still novel, the initial studies are showing that abuse-deterrent opioids have a meaningful impact in reducing the incidence of opioid abuse.
State elected and agency officials can play an important role in supporting this technology. Barriers, such as requirements that pain patients must first use non-abuse-deterrent opioids before they can be prescribed an abuse-deterrent opioid, are limiting the number of patients who are benefiting from ADFs. There- fore, elected and agency officials should support policies that eliminate these barriers and empower doctors and patients to choose abuse-deterrent opioids when they believe it would be most beneficial.
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