2022 Overdose Epidemic Report
The American Medical Association Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force continues to advance evidence-based recommendations for policymakers and physicians to help end the nation’s drug-related overdose and death epidemic. Physicians’ positive actions, however, are limited by an insufficient focus on meaningful policy implementation and enforcement to support affordable, accessible, evidence-based care for patients with a substance use disorder, pain, or access to harm reduction services such as naloxone, syringe services programs and fentanyl test strips.
We urge all stakeholders to come together to help reverse this national epidemic.
Read more in the 2022 Overdose Epidemic Report.
Resources
Total dispensed prescriptions to treat opioid use disorder (2012-2021)
From 2012 to 2021, medications to treat opioid use disorder (MOUD) increased 104%; from 2020 to 2021, however, it only increased 1.6%.
Total dispensed prescriptions for naloxone in retail pharmacies (2012-2021)
From 2016 to 2021, naloxone prescriptions dispensed from pharmacies increased from almost 134,000 to nearly 1.2 million prescriptions.
Opioid prescriptions by state (2012-2021)
From 2012 to 2021, every state in the nation saw a large decrease of prescription opioids dispensed from retail pharmacies.
Prescription drug monitoring program national survey (2022)
Physicians and other authorized users queried state prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) more than 1.1 billion times in 2021
State Toolkit to End the Nation’s Drug Overdose Epidemic: Leading-Edge Actions and Strategies to Remove Barriers to Evidence-based Patient Care
The AMA and Manatt Health 2022 State Toolkit identifies more than 400 state laws, regulations, policy guidance and other select national actions being implemented to help end the nation's drug overdose epidemic.
Recommendations of AMA Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force
Issued September 2021