Non-white communities had significantly less access to opioid medications commonly prescribed for moderate to severe pain than white communities over the decade beginning in 2011, according to a study by Weill Cornell Medicine researchers.
Weill Cornell Medicine has been awarded a five-year, $8.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support economic analysis, simulation modeling and other research approaches to help stem the national opioid epidemic.
States that require prescribers to register with and use prescription drug monitoring programs in most clinical circumstances saw notably fewer opioid prescriptions and reduced opioid-related hospital use by Medicaid patients compared to states with weak or no drug monitoring program mandates.
States that require prescribers to register for prescription drug monitoring programs have seen a reduction in the number of prescriptions issued for Schedule II opioids to Medicaid enrollees by up to 10 percent, according to research from Weill Cornell Medicine investigators.
A collaborative institute brings together researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine and the Ithaca and tech campuses — along with NYC community groups — to combat chronic pain in older adults.
