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Number Of Opioid Prescriptions Decreasing

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Though an estimated 11 Ohioans a day are dying from fatal opioid-related overdoses, fewer opioid pills are being prescribed to patients in Ohio. 

For the fifth year in a row, the number of prescription painkillers dispensed has gone down - more than 28% in the past five years. Steve Schierholt, Executive Director of the Ohio Board of Pharmacy, credits new rules that limit the number of opioid pills that can be prescribed at one time. And he says doctors are finding success in using the state's database.

 "And our hope, and what we believe is happening, is when the prescribers have that available to them, they are making different decisions for their patients."

 A new Ohio Pharmacy Board report shows an 88% decrease since 2012 in the number of people who sought out different physicians to get medications. 

Copyright 2018 The Statehouse News Bureau

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment.