Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: fentanyl fatalities could not be more dire.3 These deaths have more than quintupled between 2010 and 2016, 4 with the rate of fentanyl-attributable fatalities doubling in a single twelve-month period.5 As with past crises, what has been dubbed an "opioid epidemic" 6 has invoked an expansion in the number and scope of public health surveillance efforts.Since the dominant narrative pins the root cause of this crisis on over-prescription and diversion of prescription drugs, the response has focused on tracking and suppression of medication prescription and dispensation.7 By collecting information on who is prescribing, dispensing, and receiving scheduled drugs, prescription drug monitoring systems (PDMPs) are intended to help identify problem patients, rogue prescribers, and pharmacists who may be diverting potentially addictive and otherwise risky drugs.8 By imposing this surveillance framework, programs are also thought to deter "aberrant" practices.9 The concept behind these systems is far from new, 10 but the current crisis has spawned unprecedented extension in their number, scope, funding, and legal mandates.Every state and the District of Columbia has authorized a PDMP.11 Much has 3. Hedegaard et al., supra note 1, at 4. 4. Josh Katz, The First Count of Fentanyl Deaths in 2016: Up 540% in Three Years, N.Y.TIMES (Sept.2, 2017), https://www.nytimes.com/interactive
Source: Indiana Health Law Review
DOI: 10.18060/3911.0046
Author: Leo Beletsky
Institution: Northeastern University
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W2904322328