Methadone Prescribing & Overdose & The Association With Medicaid Preferred Drug List Policies — United States 2007–2014

On March 31, 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released this report regarding methadone prescribing and overdose, and the association with Medicaid preferred drug list (PDL) policies. The report concludes that PDL policies requiring prior authorization might help to reduce the number of methadone overdoses. Key themes covered in the report include: trends in methadone mortality, methadone prescriptions among Medicaid enrollees, and the association between state Medicaid PDLs and overdose deaths . . .