In 2010, One-Third Of Medicare Beneficiaries Prescribed Opioids Filled Prescriptions From Two Prescribers

In 2010, about 34.6% of the approximately 35 million Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Part D who were prescribed an opioid pain reliever filled prescriptions for opioids from two or more prescribers. The percentage is based on an analysis of a sample of 5.2 million Part D enrollees, which found that 1.8 million (34.7%) of those in the sample  filled at least one opioid prescription during 2010. Of the 1.8 million who filled an opioid prescription, 600,255 filled only one prescription and 1.2 million filled multiple opioid prescriptions. Of the 1.2 million . . .