According to a recent study by the Kaiser Family Family Foundation, large employers are currently experience a large increase in costs related to treating opioid addiction and overdoses for workers and their families. This comes despite a decrease in opioid prescriptions and overall opioid use being down. The cost of treatment is rising as well, the annual inpatient cost for opioid addiction treatment averaged $16,104 in 2016 up from $5,809 in 2006. "About four in ten people addicted to opioids are covered by private health insurance and Medicaid covers a similarly large share. Despite declining rates of opioid prescribing to those with employer coverage, spending on treatment for opioid addiction and overdose has increased rapidly, potentially tied to growing illicit use and increased awareness of opioid addiction. Opioid addiction and overdose treatment – the bulk of which is for dependents of employees – represents a small but growing share of overall employer health spending," the study states. Read the full study HERE.
The FDA recently voted in favor of pushing a new formulation of oxycodone hydrochloride for approval. The new OxyContin formula is more difficult to crush or dissolve which will hopefully make it harder to be used as a drug of abuse . The FDA recommended that Purdue Pharma's application for a new, resin-coated formulation should replace the original version, which has been on the market since 1996. Randall Flick, MD, an anesthesiologist at the Mayo Clinic who voted to recommend approval of the drug said, "Clearly the old formulation is worse than the new, although I think the difference is relatively small," Flick concluded, "Hardcore abusers are likely to devise new ways to break down the harder tablet or figure out which solvents will dissolve it fastest, within 'day or weeks' of the product's release on the market."