Cost of Pain Reliever Abuse in the U.S.
Posted on November 24, 2009It is very easy to develop an addiction to pain relievers, as evidenced by the growing number of people with a pain reliever abuse problem in the United States. Based on information from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, there were 4 to 5 million American using pain relievers for nonmedical purposes annually.
By 2001, that number had doubled to 8.4 million nonmedical pain reliever users annually. In 2006 Birnbaum et al. studied the healthcare costs associated with the abuse of pain relievers (opioids: RxO).
In 2001 there were approximately 50,000 individuals admitted for treatment of RxO abuse, according to information from Treatment Episode Data Sets (TEDS). The researchers examined both treatment costs and excess costs. Treatment costs are related to treatment for the RxO abuse, while excess costs are medical costs other than treatment that are related to RxO abuse.
The researchers calculated treatment costs using publicly available information about spending for substance abuse treatment at federal, state and private levels. To examine the excess costs, the study examined records from a large private insurance database to look at the non-treatment costs of RxO abusers compared to other insured individuals. They also used publicly available information about Medicaid and uninsured costs for RxO abusers.
The total cost of healthcare for RxO treatment was estimated to be $2.6 billion, with over $126 million just in 2001. 64% of these costs were covered by public funds. Excess medical costs related to RxO abuse were over $2.4 billion, with 66% covered by public funds.
There were limitations with the study. Clinician reporting bias may have affected the information obtained from the TEDS. Recent attention given to RxO abuse may have influenced how often admissions were designated to be RxO abuse-related. Also, because the information was obtained for patients seeking treatment at state licensed treatment centers, it might not be representative of the general population.
Although the study shows limitations, it is important to recognize the cost of RxO abuse in the United States. More people have access to RxOs than ever before and are taking them without adequate supervision of a healthcare provider. It is critical that RxOs be available to those suffering chronic pain, but more attention is needed for those taking RxOs. Education and early intervention of those misusing medication is important if healthcare costs are going to reflect an improvement.
