Dr. Yuhua Bao

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.

Drug overdoses took the lives of some 64,000 Americans in 2016, a 22 percent rise over the previous year. 

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.