Effect of State Policy Changes in Florida on Opioid-Related Overdoses

With a rapid increase in prescription opioid overdose deaths and a proliferation of pain clinics in the mid-2000s, Florida emerged as an epicenter of the opioid overdose epidemic. In response, Florida implemented pain clinic laws and operationalized its Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. This study examines the effect of these policies on rates of inpatient stays and emergency department visits for opioid-related overdoses.

Using data from the 2008-2015 State Emergency Department Databases and State Inpatient Databases, quarterly rates of inpatient stays and emergency department visits for prescription opioid-related overdoses and heroin-related overdoses were computed. A comparative interrupted time series analysis examined the effect of these policies on opioid overdose rates. North Carolina served as a control state because it did not implement similar policies during the study period. The data were analyzed in 2019.

Compared with North Carolina, Florida's polices were associated with reductions in the rates of prescription opioid-related overdose inpatient stays and emergency department visits, a level reduction of 2.31 per 100,000 and a reduction in the trend of 0.16 per 100,000 population each quarter. The policies were associated with a reduction of 13,532 inpatient stays and emergency department visits for prescription opioid-related overdoses during the study period. No statistically significant association was found between the policies and heroin-related overdose inpatient stays and emergency department visits.

To address the opioid overdose epidemic, states have implemented policies such as Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and pain clinic laws designed to reduce inappropriate opioid prescribing. Such laws may be effective in reducing prescription opioid-related overdoses.