The State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy released a report that reveals the amount of prescription opioids and doses dispensed to Ohio patients continued to decrease in 2018. This follows a trend of decreases in opioid prescriptions that started in 2012. In 2018 there were 468 million opioid doses dispensed, a 41 percent decrease from 2012 when there were 793 million dispensed. In 2018 there were 8 million prescriptions, down 37 percent since 2012 when there were 12.6 million prescriptions.

The amount of benzodiazepine doses and prescriptions also continued to decrease. There were a reported 197 million doses dispensed in 2018 compared to 297 million dispensed in 2012, a 34 percent decrease.

The number of stimulant doses and prescriptions decreased from 2017 to 2018, but the total doses of stimulants increased by 20 percent between 2012 and 2018.

In 2006 the state’s Prescription Monitoring Program began collecting information on outpatient prescriptions for controlled substances and two non-controlled substances, gabapentin and naltrexone, that were dispensed by Ohio-licensed pharmacies and furnished by Ohio prescribers. This system is known as the Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System (OARRS). About 41,000 pharmacists and prescribers utilize OARRS in their clinical workflow.

This information helps prescribers and pharmacists avoid dangerous drug interactions, identify prescribers with inappropriate dispensing patterns, and identify individuals who may be fraudulently obtaining controlled substances from multiple sources.

In 2018 there was a significant increase in patient reports requested by prescribers and pharmacists, and there was an 89 percent decrease in the number of patients engaging in “doctor shopping” behavior. In 2011 there were 1.78 million patient queries, and there were 142.5 million queries in 2018. In 2011 there were 2,205 patients engaging in this doctor shopping behavior and in 2018 there were 239 patients.

Read the report from the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy.