Report: Ohio Sees Drop in Opioid Prescribing

The state’s prescription reporting system shows the number of prescription opioids dispensed to Ohioans declined for the sixth consecutive year in 2018.

A recently released annual report from the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy’s Ohio Automated Rx Reporting System shows the total number of opioids dispensed to Ohio patients decreased by 325 million doses, or 41 percent, from 2012 to 2018. Total opioid prescriptions issued to Ohioans for that same period decreased by 4.6 million.

The report also found prescribers and pharmacists used the prescription reporting system at record levels. Health care providers requested more than 142 million patient reports in 2018.

Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement that the downward trend in opioid prescriptions demonstrates Ohio’s prescribers are making “significant progress in their efforts to prevent addiction.”