Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and Opioid Prescription Outcomes for Individuals with Disabilities: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Sample

In this paper we analyze the effect of electronic prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) on the opioid prescriptions for individuals with disabilities related to longstanding physical conditions and the disability associated with inflammatory conditions, and compare them to other adult opioid users. These two groups are chosen because pain is a common complaint for people with these two categories of disability. Using a difference-in-differences setup, our analysis show that PDMPs are not as effective in reducing opioid prescriptions for these two groups, especially in cases of individuals with disabilities due to inflammatory conditions, unless prescriber use mandates are included in the PDMPs. Our data shows that these two groups with disability on average have higher incidence of opioid use and much higher amounts prescribed compared to other adults who have opioid prescriptions. This may imply a justifiably higher need for pain relief, but also a higher risk of dependency.