Relationship Between State Policies Targeting Unethical Treatment Practices and Opioid-Related Outcomes: An Event...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Policy
• Substance Use Disorder Treatment

Background:

• Growing awareness of unethical practices in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment.
• Several US states enacted laws against patient brokering and deceptive marketing to protect individuals with SUD.
• The effectiveness of these patient brokering laws remains unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of state laws targeting patient brokering on opioid-related outcomes.
• To determine if legislative interventions reduce adverse outcomes in SUD treatment.
• To assess the association between patient brokering laws and opioid mortality, ED visits, and hospitalizations.

Main Methods:

• Matched event study analysis comparing states with and without patient brokering laws.
• Analysis of population-level opioid-related mortality, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations.
• Inclusion of comparison states with similar demographic and regulatory characteristics.

Main Results:

• No significant changes observed in opioid-related mortality, ED visits, or hospitalizations following the implementation of patient brokering laws.
• Analysis included data up to 2019, examining monthly and quarterly outcome rates.
• Prevalence of unusual SUD service claims patterns was also analyzed.

Conclusions:

• The passage of state laws targeting patient brokering was not associated with significant improvements in opioid-related outcomes.
• Current legislative efforts may require additional resources for effective implementation and enforcement.
• Further policy evaluation is needed to understand how to best protect individuals with SUD from treatment-related harms.