ArticlePublic health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)
The Contribution of Prescribed and Illicit Opioids to Fatal Overdoses in Massachusetts, 2013-2015.
Article in Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974). The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 36 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multinational appraisal of the epidemiological distribution of opioid fatalities: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- Advances in prescription drug monitoring program research: a literature synthesis (June 2018 to December 2019).Current opinion in psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Response to: "A Reply to Swafford-Methodologic Hubris and Health Policy Concerns," by Kollas, Chad.Annals of surgical oncology · 2025Article
- A Reply to Swafford: Methodologic Hubris and Health Policy Concerns.Annals of surgical oncology · 2025Article
- The burden of unlawful use of opioid and associated epidemiological characteristics in Africa: A scoping review.PloS one · 2025Article
- Drugs involved in Kentucky drug poisoning deaths and relation with antecedent controlled substance prescription dispensing.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2023Article
- Drug use patterns and factors related to the use and discontinuation of medications for opioid use disorder in the age of fentanyl: findings from a mixed-methods study of people who use drugs.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2023Article
- Concordance between controlled substance receipt and post-mortem toxicology in opioid-detected overdose deaths: A statewide analysis.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2023Article
- Scope of, Motivations for, and Outcomes Associated with Buprenorphine Diversion in the United States: A Scoping Review.Substance use & misuse · 2023Article
- Evaluating equity in community-based naloxone access among racial/ethnic groups in Massachusetts.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2022Article
- Opioid Use Disorder Among Ohio's Medicaid Population: Prevalence Estimates From 19 Counties Using a Multiplier Method.American journal of epidemiology · 2022Article
- Community-based naloxone coverage equity for the prevention of opioid overdose fatalities in racial/ethnic minority communities in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2022Article
- Review
- Closed-loop wearable naloxone injector system.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Abuse-deterrent extended-release oxycodone and risk of opioid-related harm.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2021Article
- Using prescribing and toxicology data to determine non-medical prescription drug overdose.Addictive behaviors reports · 2020Article
- Predictive Modeling of Opioid Overdose Using Linked Statewide Medical and Criminal Justice Data.JAMA psychiatry · 2020Article
- Assessment of Probable Opioid Use Disorder Using Electronic Health Record Documentation.JAMA network open · 2020Article
- Risk and protective factors for repeated overdose after opioid overdose survival.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2020Article
- Editor's Spotlight/Take 5: Has Prescription-limiting Legislation in Rhode Island Helped to Reduce Opioid Use After Total Joint Arthroplasty?Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2020Article
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesOpioid-related overdoses are commonly attributed to prescription opioids. We examined data on opioid-related overdose decedents in Massachusetts. For each decedent, we determined which opioid medications had been prescribed and dispensed and which opioids were detected in postmortem medical examiner toxicology specimens.
methodsAmong opioid-related overdose decedents in Massachusetts during 2013-2015, we analyzed individually linked postmortem opioid toxicology reports and prescription drug monitoring program records to determine instances of overdose in which a decedent had a prescription active on the date of death for the opioid(s) detected in the toxicology report. We also calculated the proportion of overdoses for which prescribed opioid medications were not detected in decedents' toxicology reports.
resultsOf 2916 decedents with complete toxicology reports, 1789 (61.4%) had heroin and 1322 (45.3%) had fentanyl detected in postmortem toxicology reports. Of the 491 (16.8%) decedents with ≥1 opioid prescription active on the date of death, prescribed opioids were commonly not detected in toxicology reports, specifically: buprenorphine (56 of 97; 57.7%), oxycodone (93 of 176; 52.8%), and methadone prescribed for opioid use disorder (36 of 112; 32.1%). Only 39 (1.3%) decedents had an active prescription for each opioid detected in toxicology reports on the date of death.
conclusionLinking overdose toxicology reports to prescription drug monitoring program records can help attribute overdoses to prescribed opioids, diverted prescription opioids, heroin, and illicitly made fentanyl.
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