Opioid Prescription for One Family Member Is Associated with Subsequent Prescription for Another Family Member

The possibility that access to opioids not used by family members might increase risk for incident prescription opioid use within households prompted this retrospective cohort study. Using national healthcare and pharmacy claims data from 2000 through 2014, researchers identified U.S. families with continuous prescription drug coverage and no previous prescriptions for opioids or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs); no household members had malignant neoplasms or received hospice care. Nearly 6 million households in which index members subsequently received first opioid prescriptions were compared with about 3 million households in which index members received first NSAID prescriptions. Demographic characteristics were similar bet…