April 16, 2021

Prescribing of Opioid Analgesics and Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Category: Article Summary

Topic: Mental Health and Personal Impact

Keywords (Tags): mental health personal impact, opioids

• Weekly prescriptions for opioid analgesics to new patients were at 66% of the level that would have been normally projected during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic from March to May 2020, but rebounded to 100% by August, according to a cross-sectional study (>90 US million patients). Weekly prescriptions for buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD) to new patients were at 82% of projected levels, but rebounded to 90% by August. For existing users, prescriptions for both opioid analgesics and buprenorphine for opioid use disorder largely followed pre-pandemic trends.

Currie et al. (Apr 15, 2021). Prescribing of Opioid Analgesics and Buprenorphine for Opioid Use Disorder During the COVID-19 Pandemic. JAMA Network Open. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2778564