PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News 792, p11 - 2 Dec 2017
FDA investigation decreases
opioid prescribing in children
An investigation by the US FDA into opioid
prescribing for children after tonsillectomy and/or
adenoidectomy, which lead to a black box warning in
February 2013, appears to have achieved a reduction in
opioid prescribing for these patients, according to
findings of a study published in Pediatrics.
Truven MarketScan Commercial Claims and
Encounters data were used to investigate prescribing of
opioid analgesics (codeine, hydrocodone, oxycodone or
others) within 7 days after tonsillectomy and/or
adenoidectomy in 362 992 US children with private
insurance who underwent this surgery between 2010
and 2015.
There was a significant reduction in the proportion of
patients who received one or more prescription fills for
codeine between 2010 and 2015 (
–
13.3 percentage
points). Overall, 31.0% of patients received one or more
prescription fills for codeine in January 2010 compared
with 5.1% in December 2015.
The FDA investigation was associated with a
nonsignificant reduction in the prescribing of opioids
other than codeine (
–
1.2 percentage points). However,
other factors lead to an increase in the proportion of
children receiving alternative opioids, from 31.7% in
January 2010 to 46.1% in December 2015.
"Future quality-improvement efforts should focus on
eliminating this residual inappropriate codeine
prescribing and on encouraging the use of effective
nonopioid medications such as ibuprofen," said the
authors.
Chua KP, et al. Effect of FDA Investigation on Opioid Prescribing to Children
After Tonsillectomy/Adenoidectomy. Pediatrics : 16 Nov 2017. Available from:
URL: http://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2017-1765
803284957
1
PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News 2 Dec 2017 No. 7921173-5503/17/0792-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2017 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved
@Phil_Robichaud
@deepthiw
@JoseServera