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Public health experts have attributed the alarming rise in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection rates in recent years to the opioid epidemic, and a new Rand study suggests that an effort to deter opioid abuse – namely the 2010 abuse-deterrent reformulation of OxyContin – is partly to blame.
Between 2004 and 2015, HCV infection rates in the United States nearly tripled, but a closer look showed that states with above-median rates of OxyContin misuse prior to the reformulation had a 222% increase in HCV rates, compared with a 75% increase in states with below-median OxyContin misuse, said David Powell, PhD, a senior economist at Rand in Arlington, Va., and his colleagues, Abby Alpert, PhD, and Rosalie L. Pacula, PhD. The report was published in Health Affairs.
The coauthors found that hepatitis C infection rates were not significantly different between the two groups of states before the reformulation (0.350 vs. 0.260). But after 2010, there were large and statistically significant differences in the rates (1.128 vs. 0.455; P less than 0.01), they wrote, noting that the above-median states experienced an additional 0.58 HCV infections per 100,000 population through 2015 relative to the below-median states).
HCV infection rates declined during the 1990s followed by a plateau beginning around 2003, then rose sharply beginning in 2010, coinciding with the introduction of the release of the abuse-deterrent formulation of OxyContin, which is one of the most commonly misused opioid analgesics, the investigators said, explaining that the reformulated version was harder to crush or dissolve, making it more difficult to inhale or inject.
“Prior studies have shown that, after OxyContin became more difficult to abuse, some nonmedical users of OxyContin switched to heroin (a pharmacologically similar opiate),” they noted.
This led to a decline of more than 40% in OxyContin misuse but also to a sharp increase in heroin overdoses after 2010.
The investigators assessed whether the related increase in heroin use might explain the increase in HCV infections, which can be transmitted through shared needle use.
Using a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach, they examined whether states with higher exposure to the reformulated OxyContin had faster growth of HCV infection rates after the reformulations, and as a falsification exercise, they also looked at whether the nonmedical use of pain relievers other than OxyContin predicted post-reformulation HCV infection rate increases.
HCV infection rates for each calendar year from 2004 to 2015 were assessed using confirmed case reports collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and nonmedical OxyContin use was measured using self-reported data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which is the largest U.S. survey on substance use disorder.
The two groups of states had similar demographic and economic conditions, except that the above-median misuse states had smaller populations and a larger proportion of white residents.
Of note, the patterns of HCV infection mirrored those of heroin overdoses. There was small relative increase in HCV infection rates in 2010 in the above-median OxyContin misuse states, and the gap between above- and below-median misuse states widened more rapidly from 2011 to 2013. “This striking inflection point in the trend of hepatitis C infections for high-misuse states after 2010 mimics the inflection in heroin overdoses that occurred as a result of the reformulation,” they said, noting that heroin morality per 100,000 population was nearly identical in the two groups of states in the pre-reformulation period (0.859 and 0.847).
The falsification exercise looking at nonmedical use of pain relievers other than OxyContin in the two groups of states showed that after 2010 groups’ rates of hepatitis C infections grew at virtually identical rates.
“Thus, the differential risk in hepatitis C infections was uniquely associated with OxyContin misuse, rather than prescription pain reliever misuse more generally,” they said. “This suggests that it was the OxyContin reformulation, not other policies broadly affecting opioids, that drove much of the differential growth.”
The investigators controlled for numerous other factors, including opioid policies that might have an impact on OxyContin and heroin use, prescription drug monitoring programs and pain clinic regulations, as well as the role of major pill-mill crackdowns in 2010 and 2011.
The findings represent a “substantial public health concern,” they said, explaining that, while “considerable policy attention is being given to managing the opioid epidemic ... a ‘silent epidemic’ of hepatitis C has emerged as a result of a transition in the mode of administration toward injection drug use.”
In 2017, the CDC reported on this link between the opioid epidemic and rising HCV infection rates, as well.
Dr. Powell and his colleagues wrote.
Their findings regarding the unintended consequences of the OxyContin reformulation suggest that caution is warranted with respect to future interventions that limit the supply of abusable prescription opioids, they said, adding that “such interventions must be paired with polices that alleviate the harms associated with switching to illicit drugs, such as improved access to substance use disorder treatment and increased efforts aimed at identifying and treating diseases associated with injection drug use.”
However, policy makers and medical professionals also must recognize that reducing opioid-related mortality and increasing access to drug treatment might not be sufficient to fully address all of the public health consequences associated with the opioid crisis. As additional reformulations of opioids are promoted and more policies seek to limit access to prescription opioids, “both the medical and the law enforcement communities must recognize the critical transition from prescription opioids to other drugs, particularly those that are injected, and be prepared to consider complementary strategies that can effectively reduce the additional harms from the particular mode of drug use,” they concluded.
The coauthors cited several limitations, including the possibility that true hepatitis C infection rates might have been underestimated in the study.
He and Dr. Pacula received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Dr. Powell also cited funding from the Rand Alumni Impact Award.
SOURCE: Powell D et al. Health Aff. 2019;38(2):287-94.
Increases have been seen not only in infectious diseases but also in cardiovascular diseases as intravenous opioid use has risen, Mark S. Gold, MD, said in an interview. “These emerging co-occurring diseases tend to lag behind drug deaths and other data,” he said.
The study by Powell et al. shows that drugs of abuse are dangerous, and that, with addictive use, we find consequences. “Each change appears to bring with it intended consequences we study, but over time, unintended consequences emerge,” he said. “It is important to remain vigilant.”
Dr. Gold is 17th Distinguished Alumni Professor at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and professor of psychiatry (adjunct) at Washington University in St. Louis.
Increases have been seen not only in infectious diseases but also in cardiovascular diseases as intravenous opioid use has risen, Mark S. Gold, MD, said in an interview. “These emerging co-occurring diseases tend to lag behind drug deaths and other data,” he said.
The study by Powell et al. shows that drugs of abuse are dangerous, and that, with addictive use, we find consequences. “Each change appears to bring with it intended consequences we study, but over time, unintended consequences emerge,” he said. “It is important to remain vigilant.”
Dr. Gold is 17th Distinguished Alumni Professor at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and professor of psychiatry (adjunct) at Washington University in St. Louis.
Increases have been seen not only in infectious diseases but also in cardiovascular diseases as intravenous opioid use has risen, Mark S. Gold, MD, said in an interview. “These emerging co-occurring diseases tend to lag behind drug deaths and other data,” he said.
The study by Powell et al. shows that drugs of abuse are dangerous, and that, with addictive use, we find consequences. “Each change appears to bring with it intended consequences we study, but over time, unintended consequences emerge,” he said. “It is important to remain vigilant.”
Dr. Gold is 17th Distinguished Alumni Professor at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and professor of psychiatry (adjunct) at Washington University in St. Louis.
Public health experts have attributed the alarming rise in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection rates in recent years to the opioid epidemic, and a new Rand study suggests that an effort to deter opioid abuse – namely the 2010 abuse-deterrent reformulation of OxyContin – is partly to blame.
Between 2004 and 2015, HCV infection rates in the United States nearly tripled, but a closer look showed that states with above-median rates of OxyContin misuse prior to the reformulation had a 222% increase in HCV rates, compared with a 75% increase in states with below-median OxyContin misuse, said David Powell, PhD, a senior economist at Rand in Arlington, Va., and his colleagues, Abby Alpert, PhD, and Rosalie L. Pacula, PhD. The report was published in Health Affairs.
The coauthors found that hepatitis C infection rates were not significantly different between the two groups of states before the reformulation (0.350 vs. 0.260). But after 2010, there were large and statistically significant differences in the rates (1.128 vs. 0.455; P less than 0.01), they wrote, noting that the above-median states experienced an additional 0.58 HCV infections per 100,000 population through 2015 relative to the below-median states).
HCV infection rates declined during the 1990s followed by a plateau beginning around 2003, then rose sharply beginning in 2010, coinciding with the introduction of the release of the abuse-deterrent formulation of OxyContin, which is one of the most commonly misused opioid analgesics, the investigators said, explaining that the reformulated version was harder to crush or dissolve, making it more difficult to inhale or inject.
“Prior studies have shown that, after OxyContin became more difficult to abuse, some nonmedical users of OxyContin switched to heroin (a pharmacologically similar opiate),” they noted.
This led to a decline of more than 40% in OxyContin misuse but also to a sharp increase in heroin overdoses after 2010.
The investigators assessed whether the related increase in heroin use might explain the increase in HCV infections, which can be transmitted through shared needle use.
Using a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach, they examined whether states with higher exposure to the reformulated OxyContin had faster growth of HCV infection rates after the reformulations, and as a falsification exercise, they also looked at whether the nonmedical use of pain relievers other than OxyContin predicted post-reformulation HCV infection rate increases.
HCV infection rates for each calendar year from 2004 to 2015 were assessed using confirmed case reports collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and nonmedical OxyContin use was measured using self-reported data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which is the largest U.S. survey on substance use disorder.
The two groups of states had similar demographic and economic conditions, except that the above-median misuse states had smaller populations and a larger proportion of white residents.
Of note, the patterns of HCV infection mirrored those of heroin overdoses. There was small relative increase in HCV infection rates in 2010 in the above-median OxyContin misuse states, and the gap between above- and below-median misuse states widened more rapidly from 2011 to 2013. “This striking inflection point in the trend of hepatitis C infections for high-misuse states after 2010 mimics the inflection in heroin overdoses that occurred as a result of the reformulation,” they said, noting that heroin morality per 100,000 population was nearly identical in the two groups of states in the pre-reformulation period (0.859 and 0.847).
The falsification exercise looking at nonmedical use of pain relievers other than OxyContin in the two groups of states showed that after 2010 groups’ rates of hepatitis C infections grew at virtually identical rates.
“Thus, the differential risk in hepatitis C infections was uniquely associated with OxyContin misuse, rather than prescription pain reliever misuse more generally,” they said. “This suggests that it was the OxyContin reformulation, not other policies broadly affecting opioids, that drove much of the differential growth.”
The investigators controlled for numerous other factors, including opioid policies that might have an impact on OxyContin and heroin use, prescription drug monitoring programs and pain clinic regulations, as well as the role of major pill-mill crackdowns in 2010 and 2011.
The findings represent a “substantial public health concern,” they said, explaining that, while “considerable policy attention is being given to managing the opioid epidemic ... a ‘silent epidemic’ of hepatitis C has emerged as a result of a transition in the mode of administration toward injection drug use.”
In 2017, the CDC reported on this link between the opioid epidemic and rising HCV infection rates, as well.
Dr. Powell and his colleagues wrote.
Their findings regarding the unintended consequences of the OxyContin reformulation suggest that caution is warranted with respect to future interventions that limit the supply of abusable prescription opioids, they said, adding that “such interventions must be paired with polices that alleviate the harms associated with switching to illicit drugs, such as improved access to substance use disorder treatment and increased efforts aimed at identifying and treating diseases associated with injection drug use.”
However, policy makers and medical professionals also must recognize that reducing opioid-related mortality and increasing access to drug treatment might not be sufficient to fully address all of the public health consequences associated with the opioid crisis. As additional reformulations of opioids are promoted and more policies seek to limit access to prescription opioids, “both the medical and the law enforcement communities must recognize the critical transition from prescription opioids to other drugs, particularly those that are injected, and be prepared to consider complementary strategies that can effectively reduce the additional harms from the particular mode of drug use,” they concluded.
The coauthors cited several limitations, including the possibility that true hepatitis C infection rates might have been underestimated in the study.
He and Dr. Pacula received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Dr. Powell also cited funding from the Rand Alumni Impact Award.
SOURCE: Powell D et al. Health Aff. 2019;38(2):287-94.
Public health experts have attributed the alarming rise in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection rates in recent years to the opioid epidemic, and a new Rand study suggests that an effort to deter opioid abuse – namely the 2010 abuse-deterrent reformulation of OxyContin – is partly to blame.
Between 2004 and 2015, HCV infection rates in the United States nearly tripled, but a closer look showed that states with above-median rates of OxyContin misuse prior to the reformulation had a 222% increase in HCV rates, compared with a 75% increase in states with below-median OxyContin misuse, said David Powell, PhD, a senior economist at Rand in Arlington, Va., and his colleagues, Abby Alpert, PhD, and Rosalie L. Pacula, PhD. The report was published in Health Affairs.
The coauthors found that hepatitis C infection rates were not significantly different between the two groups of states before the reformulation (0.350 vs. 0.260). But after 2010, there were large and statistically significant differences in the rates (1.128 vs. 0.455; P less than 0.01), they wrote, noting that the above-median states experienced an additional 0.58 HCV infections per 100,000 population through 2015 relative to the below-median states).
HCV infection rates declined during the 1990s followed by a plateau beginning around 2003, then rose sharply beginning in 2010, coinciding with the introduction of the release of the abuse-deterrent formulation of OxyContin, which is one of the most commonly misused opioid analgesics, the investigators said, explaining that the reformulated version was harder to crush or dissolve, making it more difficult to inhale or inject.
“Prior studies have shown that, after OxyContin became more difficult to abuse, some nonmedical users of OxyContin switched to heroin (a pharmacologically similar opiate),” they noted.
This led to a decline of more than 40% in OxyContin misuse but also to a sharp increase in heroin overdoses after 2010.
The investigators assessed whether the related increase in heroin use might explain the increase in HCV infections, which can be transmitted through shared needle use.
Using a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach, they examined whether states with higher exposure to the reformulated OxyContin had faster growth of HCV infection rates after the reformulations, and as a falsification exercise, they also looked at whether the nonmedical use of pain relievers other than OxyContin predicted post-reformulation HCV infection rate increases.
HCV infection rates for each calendar year from 2004 to 2015 were assessed using confirmed case reports collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and nonmedical OxyContin use was measured using self-reported data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, which is the largest U.S. survey on substance use disorder.
The two groups of states had similar demographic and economic conditions, except that the above-median misuse states had smaller populations and a larger proportion of white residents.
Of note, the patterns of HCV infection mirrored those of heroin overdoses. There was small relative increase in HCV infection rates in 2010 in the above-median OxyContin misuse states, and the gap between above- and below-median misuse states widened more rapidly from 2011 to 2013. “This striking inflection point in the trend of hepatitis C infections for high-misuse states after 2010 mimics the inflection in heroin overdoses that occurred as a result of the reformulation,” they said, noting that heroin morality per 100,000 population was nearly identical in the two groups of states in the pre-reformulation period (0.859 and 0.847).
The falsification exercise looking at nonmedical use of pain relievers other than OxyContin in the two groups of states showed that after 2010 groups’ rates of hepatitis C infections grew at virtually identical rates.
“Thus, the differential risk in hepatitis C infections was uniquely associated with OxyContin misuse, rather than prescription pain reliever misuse more generally,” they said. “This suggests that it was the OxyContin reformulation, not other policies broadly affecting opioids, that drove much of the differential growth.”
The investigators controlled for numerous other factors, including opioid policies that might have an impact on OxyContin and heroin use, prescription drug monitoring programs and pain clinic regulations, as well as the role of major pill-mill crackdowns in 2010 and 2011.
The findings represent a “substantial public health concern,” they said, explaining that, while “considerable policy attention is being given to managing the opioid epidemic ... a ‘silent epidemic’ of hepatitis C has emerged as a result of a transition in the mode of administration toward injection drug use.”
In 2017, the CDC reported on this link between the opioid epidemic and rising HCV infection rates, as well.
Dr. Powell and his colleagues wrote.
Their findings regarding the unintended consequences of the OxyContin reformulation suggest that caution is warranted with respect to future interventions that limit the supply of abusable prescription opioids, they said, adding that “such interventions must be paired with polices that alleviate the harms associated with switching to illicit drugs, such as improved access to substance use disorder treatment and increased efforts aimed at identifying and treating diseases associated with injection drug use.”
However, policy makers and medical professionals also must recognize that reducing opioid-related mortality and increasing access to drug treatment might not be sufficient to fully address all of the public health consequences associated with the opioid crisis. As additional reformulations of opioids are promoted and more policies seek to limit access to prescription opioids, “both the medical and the law enforcement communities must recognize the critical transition from prescription opioids to other drugs, particularly those that are injected, and be prepared to consider complementary strategies that can effectively reduce the additional harms from the particular mode of drug use,” they concluded.
The coauthors cited several limitations, including the possibility that true hepatitis C infection rates might have been underestimated in the study.
He and Dr. Pacula received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Dr. Powell also cited funding from the Rand Alumni Impact Award.
SOURCE: Powell D et al. Health Aff. 2019;38(2):287-94.
FROM HEALTH AFFAIRS
Key clinical point: Physicians and others must be “prepared to consider complementary strategies that can effectively reduce the additional harms from the particular mode of drug use.”
Major finding: HCV rates increased 222% in states that had above-median OxyContin misuse rates, compared with an increase of 75% in states with below-median misuse.
Study details: A review of data from 2004 to 2015.
Disclosures: Dr. Powell and Dr. Pacula received funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Dr. Powell also cited funding from the Rand Alumni Impact Award.
Source: Powell D et al. Health Aff. 2019;38(2):287-94.