TY - JOUR
T1 - Perceived Unintended Consequences of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs
AU - Yuanhong Lai, Alden
AU - Smith, Katherine C.
AU - Vernick, Jon S.
AU - Davis, Corey S.
AU - Caleb Alexander, G.
AU - Rutkow, Lainie
N1 - Funding Information:
Support for this project was provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Project ID 72452). The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The funding source had no role in the design and conduct of the study, analysis or interpretation of the data, and preparation or final approval of the manuscript prior to publication.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2019/1/28
Y1 - 2019/1/28
N2 - Background: Opioid-related injuries and deaths continue to present challenges for public health practitioners. Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) are a prevalent policy option intended to address problematic opioid pain reliever (OPR) prescribing, but previous research has not thoroughly characterized their unintended consequences. Objectives: To examine state actors’ perceptions of the unintended consequences of PDMPs. Methods: We conducted 37 interviews with PDMP staff, law enforcement officials, and administrative agency employees in Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Ohio from May 2015 to June 2016. Results: We identified six themes from the interviews. Perceived negative unintended consequences included: access barriers for those with medical needs, heroin use as OPR substitute and related deaths, and need for adequate PDMP security infrastructure and management. Perceived positive unintended consequences were: community formation and problem awareness, proactive population-level OPR monitoring, and increased knowledge about population-level drug diversion. Conclusions/Importance: State actors perceive a range of both negative and positive unintended consequences of PDMPs. Our findings suggest that there may be unintended risks of PDMPs that states should address, but also opportunities to maximize certain benefits.
AB - Background: Opioid-related injuries and deaths continue to present challenges for public health practitioners. Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) are a prevalent policy option intended to address problematic opioid pain reliever (OPR) prescribing, but previous research has not thoroughly characterized their unintended consequences. Objectives: To examine state actors’ perceptions of the unintended consequences of PDMPs. Methods: We conducted 37 interviews with PDMP staff, law enforcement officials, and administrative agency employees in Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Ohio from May 2015 to June 2016. Results: We identified six themes from the interviews. Perceived negative unintended consequences included: access barriers for those with medical needs, heroin use as OPR substitute and related deaths, and need for adequate PDMP security infrastructure and management. Perceived positive unintended consequences were: community formation and problem awareness, proactive population-level OPR monitoring, and increased knowledge about population-level drug diversion. Conclusions/Importance: State actors perceive a range of both negative and positive unintended consequences of PDMPs. Our findings suggest that there may be unintended risks of PDMPs that states should address, but also opportunities to maximize certain benefits.
KW - Prescription opioids
KW - prescription drug monitoring programs
KW - public health practice
KW - qualitative
KW - unintended consequences
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U2 - 10.1080/10826084.2018.1491052
DO - 10.1080/10826084.2018.1491052
M3 - Comment/debate
C2 - 30463465
AN - SCOPUS:85057340845
SN - 1082-6084
VL - 54
SP - 345
EP - 349
JO - Substance Use and Misuse
JF - Substance Use and Misuse
IS - 2
ER -