Our Prescriptions for Prescription Drug Abuse
Posted on September 03, 2015
Prescription drugs are generally safe when taken as directed, but they can also be abused. Moreover, some people try to use their insurance to pay for prescriptions they shouldn’t be getting. Read on for our look at how two federal agencies are trying to prevent some of these prescription drug problems.
Prescription drugs in the wrong hands
Daring raids and piles of seized street drugs and cash. Those are typically the images people conjure when thinking of the Drug Enforcement Agency. That’s great movie material, but the DEA also does a lot to keep drugs from hitting the streets in the first place.
For prescription drugs like OxyContin and Vicodin, that means preventing diversion—when prescription drugs are stolen or illegally sold and, eventually, abused. As these drugs make their way down the supply chain from manufacturers to your local pharmacy, there are multiple opportunities for diversion and for all the dangers that stem from it.
(Excerpted from GAO-15-471)
(Excerpted from GAO-15-390)
- Lock-in programs for noncontrolled substances. Lock-in programs require suspect patients to use only one healthcare provider, one pharmacy, or both, in order to address doctor shopping. Why use them for noncontrolled substances? We found about 30 Medicaid beneficiaries with no record of having HIV who each got the HIV medication Atripla 12 or more times at a cost to Medicaid of at least $418,000.
- Prohibition of automatic refills. Ending automatic refills may help limit waste and save money by making it harder for patients to fill unnecessary prescriptions and stockpile drugs.
- Questions on the content of this post? Contact Linda Kohn at kohnl@gao.gov, George Scott at scottg@gao.gov, or Seto Bagdoyan at bagdoyans@gao.gov.
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