Author: Brett J Skinner, Ph.D.
Medical experts and public health officials in Canada are concerned about the abuse of prescription opioids. Available evidence suggests the abuse of prescription opioids is partly facilitated by users who modify the drug product. Abuse deterrent formulations exist for some products but are not mandatory for all prescription opioids. This study estimates the magnitude of the societal costs in Canada resulting from non-medical use of prescription opioids that could be avoided if all prescription opioids were mandated to be abuse deterrent formulations.
Open-Access Sponsorship
Free public access to this study was made possible by an independent research grant provided by Purdue Pharma Canada.
