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Research Brief

Understanding America's Surge in Fentanyl and Other Synthetic Opioids

Oct 7, 2019

Although overdose deaths from heroin and prescription opioids have declined, deaths involving synthetic opioids are on the rise. Much of the current wave of overdoses is linked to one synthetic opioid: fentanyl.
Commentary

Policies That Punish Pregnant Women for Substance Use Don't Help Mother or Baby

Jan 28, 2020

About half of all U.S. states now have policies that criminalize substance use during pregnancy, consider it grounds for civil commitment, or consider it child abuse or neglect. But research suggests that punitive policies aren't beneficial for infants or their mothers.

Explore Opioids

Journal Article

Prescribers and Naloxone Pharmacy Claims

Commentary on an article by Truong, Patil, and Rich, on the benefits and dangers of naloxone prescriptions.

Apr 13, 2021
Journal Article

The Evolving Consequences of OxyContin Reformulation on Drug Overdoses

In this paper, we find that over a longer time horizon, OxyContin reformulation stimulated illicit drug markets to grow and evolve.

Mar 17, 2021
Journal Article

Multiplying the Impact of Opioid Settlement Funds by Investing in Primary Prevention

In this Perspective, we describe three strategies hospitals can use to multiply the reach of their opioid settlement funding by addressing root causes of opioid use through primary prevention.

Mar 17, 2021
Journal Article

Is the Rise in Illicit Opioids Affecting Labor Supply and Disability Claiming Rates?

Researchers examined how increased use of illicit opioids such as heroin and fentanyl affected labor market participation and claims for disability insurance.

Mar 10, 2021
Journal Article

Heroin Use Cannot Be Measured Adequately with a General Population Survey

Here we explore the important case of using General Population Surveys to estimate frequent heroin use.

Mar 5, 2021
Multimedia

The Opioid Crisis and State & Federal Policies: It’s More Complicated Than You Think

In this video, Bradley Stein presents an exploration of recent federal and state policies related to the opioid crisis and the sometimes unanticipated consequences.

Feb 19, 2021
Journal Article

Racial/ethnic Differences in Prescription Opioid Misuse and Heroin Use Among a National Sample, 1999–2018

We compared relative prevalences across 6 racial/ethnic groups for prescription opioid misuse analyses and 4 racial/ethnic groups for heroin analyses.

Feb 19, 2021
Journal Article

Individual and Community Factors Associated with Naloxone Co-prescribing Among Long-term Opioid Patients: A Retrospective Analysis

This retrospective analysis examines naloxone co-prescribing in the general population and assess how co-prescribing varies by individual and community characteristics.

Feb 19, 2021
Journal Article

Patient, Prescriber, and Community Factors Associated with Filled Naloxone Prescriptions Among Patients Receiving Buprenorphine 2017–18

This retrospective analysis examines filled naloxone prescriptions among patients receiving buprenorphine treatment and assesses how rates of filled naloxone prescriptions varies by patient, prescriber, and community characteristics.

Feb 19, 2021
Multimedia

Opioid Litigation: What's New, and What Does It Mean for Future Litigation?

More than 2,000 plaintiffs have joined the largest civil trial in U.S. history: National Prescription Opiate Litigation (MDL 2804). In this virtual symposium, experts discuss the opioid litigation and its effects on the future of mass litigation.

Feb 9, 2021
Multimedia

RAND Remote: High Stakes, Fostering Innovation to Stem the Tide of America's Drug Problems

In this RAND Remote presentation, Beau Kilmer discusses how RAND is identifying and evaluating innovative approaches to tackle some of America's most pressing drug problems and help strengthen and safeguard communities.

Jan 28, 2021
Multimedia

State-Level Opioid Policy Analyses: Moving Beyond the Classic Difference-in-Difference Model

Researchers affiliated with the RAND-USC Schaeffer Opioid Policy Tools and Information Center (OPTIC) present a webinar on methods for evaluating the effectiveness of state-level policy.

Jan 26, 2021
Journal Article

Illicit Synthetic Opioid Consumption in Asia and the Pacific: Assessing the Risks of a Potential Outbreak

While many illegally manufactured potent synthetic opioids (IMPSO) are produced in Asia, there is little evidence they have entered markets there. We consider the susceptibility to IMPSO's encroachment in markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

Jan 26, 2021
Journal Article

Methodological Challenges and Proposed Solutions for Evaluating Opioid Policy Effectiveness

In this paper, we provide an overview of methodological challenges facing opioid policy researchers when conducting opioid policy evaluation studies using observational data, as well as some potential solutions to those challenges.

Jan 20, 2021
Journal Article

Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder During COVID-19: Experiences of Clinicians Transitioning to Telemedicine

In the context of the pandemic, buprenorphine prescribers quickly transitioned to providing telemedicine visits in high volume; nonetheless, there are still many unknowns, including the quality and safety of widespread use of telemedicine for OUD treatment.

Jan 6, 2021
Journal Article

Assessment of Filled Buprenorphine Prescriptions for Opioid Use Disorder During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Retail buprenorphine sales for opioid addiction plateau during COVID-19 pandemic amidst sharp declines in total prescription sales.

Dec 30, 2020
Journal Article

Telehealth Capability Among Substance Use Disorder Treatment Facilities in Counties With High Versus Low COVID-19 Social Distancing

This study aimed to To quantify the availability of telehealth services at substance use treatment facilities in the U.S. at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and determine whether telehealth is available at facilities in counties with the greatest amount of social distancing. Relatively few substance use treatment facilities offered telehealth services at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers and public health officials should do more to support facilities in offering telehealth services.

Nov 3, 2020
Journal Article

Police Officers, Stigma, and the Opioid Epidemic

The goal of this exploratory project is to help fill gaps in the literature by empirically measuring levels of explicit provider-based stigma toward persons who use opioids.

Oct 28, 2020
Blog

Truth Decay, Opioid Settlement Funds, Veterans Health Care: RAND Weekly Recap

This weekly recap focuses on fighting back against Truth Decay, how to spend opioid settlement funds, China's lack of friends, and more.

Oct 23, 2020
Report

Pitfalls and Potholes: Data Issues to Consider When Analyzing State Opioid Policies, September 14, 2020

This webinar focused on data dimensions that researchers should keep in mind when conducting analyses of state opioid policies and when seeking to draw conclusions from other studies.

Oct 21, 2020

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