Perceived Unintended Consequences of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs

Background: Opioid-related injuries and deaths continue to present challenges for public health practitioners. Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) are a prevalent policy option intended to address problematic opioid pain reliever (OPR) prescribing, but previous research has not thoroughly...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Substance use & misuse 2019-01, Vol.54 (2), p.345-349
Main Authors: Yuanhong Lai, Alden, Smith, Katherine C., Vernick, Jon S., Davis, Corey S., Caleb Alexander, G., Rutkow, Lainie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Administrative law
Analgesics, Opioid
Awareness
Consciousness
Drug abuse
Drugs
Florida
Health care policy
Health needs
Health problems
Health Services Accessibility
Heroin
Heroin Dependence
Humans
Infrastructure
Kentucky
Law Enforcement
Medical personnel
Medicine
Narcotics
New Jersey
Ohio
Opioids
Pain
Prescribing
Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs
Prescription drugs
Prescription opioids
Public health
public health practice
qualitative
Qualitative Research
Therapeutic drug monitoring
unintended consequences
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Summary:Background: Opioid-related injuries and deaths continue to present challenges for public health practitioners. Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs (PDMPs) are a prevalent policy option intended to address problematic opioid pain reliever (OPR) prescribing, but previous research has not thoroughly characterized their unintended consequences. Objectives: To examine state actors' perceptions of the unintended consequences of PDMPs. Methods: We conducted 37 interviews with PDMP staff, law enforcement officials, and administrative agency employees in Florida, Kentucky, New Jersey, and Ohio from May 2015 to June 2016. Results: We identified six themes from the interviews. Perceived negative unintended consequences included: access barriers for those with medical needs, heroin use as OPR substitute and related deaths, and need for adequate PDMP security infrastructure and management. Perceived positive unintended consequences were: community formation and problem awareness, proactive population-level OPR monitoring, and increased knowledge about population-level drug diversion. Conclusions/Importance: State actors perceive a range of both negative and positive unintended consequences of PDMPs. Our findings suggest that there may be unintended risks of PDMPs that states should address, but also opportunities to maximize certain benefits.
ISSN:1082-6084
1532-2491
DOI:10.1080/10826084.2018.1491052