ArticleDrug and alcohol dependence2026
Impact of schedule V controlled substance classification of gabapentin on adult gabapentin-involved overdose rates, West Virginia, 2016-2019: A controlled time series analysis.
Article in Drug and alcohol dependence, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveAssess the association between West Virginia's classification of gabapentin as a schedule V controlled substance and fatal overdoses involving gabapentin, relative to a control state.
methodsUsing a controlled interrupted time series design, we modeled a segmented linear regression using Newey-West standard errors to estimate the immediate and trend changes in gabapentin-involved fatal overdoses among adults in West Virginia associated with gabapentin's scheduling in June 2018. Data from North Carolina (no gabapentin scheduling) was used as a control to account for potential secular changes. Quarterly rates were computed from 2016 to 2019.
resultsThe introduction of West Virginia's policy was associated with an immediate decrease in the rate of gabapentin-involved fatal overdoses (drop of 0.39 overdoses per 100,000 adults) in West Virginia relative to North Carolina (95% CI: -0.75, -0.03). There was no evidence to suggest a change in trend relative to North Carolina (0.02 overdoses per 100,000 adults per quarter; 95% CI: -0.06, 0.10).
conclusionsClassifying gabapentin as a schedule V controlled substance was associated with an immediate decrease in the rate of gabapentin-involved fatal overdoses in West Virginia, relative to North Carolina. POLICY IMPLICATIONS: Combined with broader efforts to address overdose deaths, scheduling gabapentin is a potential supply-side intervention that may contribute to reductions in gabapentin involvement in fatal overdoses.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.