Tracy Waldman

Societal Costs of Prescription Opioid Abuse, Dependence, and Misuse in the United States

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to estimate the societal costs of prescription opioid abuse, dependence, and misuse in the United States. METHODS Costs were grouped into three categories: health care, workplace, and criminal justice. Costs were estimated by 1) quantity method, which multiplies the number of opioid abuse patients by cost per opioid abuse patient; and 2) apportionment method, which begins with overall costs of drug abuse per component and apportions the share associated with prescription opioid abuse based on relative prevalence of prescription opioid to overall drug abuse. Excess health care costs per patient were based on claims data analysis of privately insured and Medicaid beneficiaries. Other data/information were derived from publicly available survey and other secondary sources. RESULTS Total US societal costs of prescription opioid abuse were estimated at

Prevalence of pulmonary arterial hypertension and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension in the United States

55.7 billion in 2007 (USD in 2009). Workplace costs accounted for

Excess costs associated with patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension in a US privately insured population

25.6 billion (46%), health care costs accounted for

Changes in Utilization and Costs for Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis, 1997 to 2006

25.0 billion (45%), and criminal justice costs accounted for

Excess costs associated with patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension in a US privately insured population

5.1 billion (9%). Workplace costs were driven by lost earnings from premature death (

Real-world role of tricyclic antidepressants in the treatment of fibromyalgia.

11.2 billion) and reduced compensation/lost employment (

Direct and indirect costs of patients treated with extended-release oxymorphone HCl or controlled-release oxycodone HCl

7.9 billion). Health care costs consisted primarily of excess medical and prescription costs (

PMH38 SOCIETAL COSTS OF OPIOID ABUSE, DEPENDENCE, AND MISUSE IN THE UNITED STATES

23.7 billion). Criminal justice costs were largely comprised of correctional facility (

PSY31 REAL-WORLD USE OF DULOXETINE FOR LOW BACK PAIN

2.3 billion) and police costs (

Assessing the impact of a medicaid prior authorization (PA) policy for duloxetine on antipsychotic use among patients with depression

1.5 billion). CONCLUSIONS   The costs of prescription opioid abuse represent a substantial and growing economic burden for the society. The increasing prevalence of abuse suggests an even greater societal burden in the future.