Opioid Overdose Deaths and Florida's Crackdown on Pill Mills.

OBJECTIVES

We examined the effect on opioid overdose mortality of Florida state laws and law enforcement operations targeting "pill mills."

METHODS

We collected 2003 to 2012 mortality data from the Florida Department of Health and the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics (the comparison state) to estimate changes in the rates of death from prescription opioid, heroin, or any opioid overdose.

RESULTS

Florida's actions were associated with an estimated 1029 lives saved from prescription opioid overdose over a 34-month period. Estimated reductions in deaths grew over the intervention period, with rates per 100,000 population that were 0.6 lower in 2010, 1.8 lower in 2011, and 3.0 lower in 2012 than what would have been expected had the changes in mortality rate trends in Florida been the same as changes in trends in North Carolina. Florida's mortality rates from heroin and total opioid overdose were also lower than anticipated relative to changes in trends in North Carolina.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings from this study indicate that laws regulating pain clinics and enforcement of these laws may, in combination, reduce opioid overdose deaths.