LSU Health New Orleans Study Finds Dramatic Drop in Opioid Rx After State Legislation Enacted

 

A study led by Dr. Peter Krause, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine, reports a nearly 70% drop in morphine milligram equivalent (MME) per discharge opioid prescriptions for patients who had common lower extremity surgical procedures after state laws to reduce opioid abuse were enacted in Louisiana in 2017. Patients receiving at least one new opioid prescription after their discharge also sharply declined from 2013 to 2018. Results are published ahead of print online in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, available here.

The LSU Health New Orleans research team included Amy B. Bronstone, PhD; Claudia Leonardi, PhD; Tara Kubilay, BA; and Gregory M. Tortorich, MD. Co-authors also included Daniel S. Plessl, MD, from Harvard Medical School and Peter J. Morreale, MD, from the Washington University St. Louis School of Medicine.

 

Read the entire article at LSU Health