E-Prescribing to Combat Misuse and Diversion

Prescription drug overdoses are responsible for more deaths in the United States than gun, knife, and motor vehicle injuries combined, with those involving opioid analgesics increasing 300% since 1999. 

Approximately 260 million opioid prescriptions were written in 2012 alone, Surescripts data indicate. “That’s about one bottle of prescription-strength painkilling medication out there for every American, which is a staggering amount when you think about it,” said Sean P. Kelly, MD, an emergency medicine specialist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an assistant clinical professor of emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School, both in Boston.

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