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The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) Opioid Prevention Program – Data to Action releases quarterly data reports on buprenorphine prescribing and treatment of opioid use disorder. Review New York State data and resources offered, highlighting the MATTERS Network as a treatment and recovery resource.

Introduction

Opioid overdose deaths among New York State (NYS) residents increased more than 360 percent from 1,074 deaths in 20101 to 4,946 deaths in 2021, with a sharp increase of 68 percent from 2,939 deaths in 2019.2 The preliminary data of opioid-related overdoses from emergency department (ED) outpatient visits also indicate a 12.2 percent increase from 2020 to 2021.3 During 2019-2020, the prevalence of illicit drug dependence in the past year was 2.0 percent and the prevalence of opioid dependence or abuse in the past year was 0.3 percent among NYS residents.4

Buprenorphine is one of the approved medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder (OUD). Initiation and continuous use of buprenorphine has been shown to be effective in treating OUD.5,6 Buprenorphine is an opioid and a Schedule III controlled substance reported to the NYS Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) when dispensed by pharmacies in outpatient settings. The data presented here provide information on continuous dispensed prescriptions of buprenorphine for the treatment of OUD among NYS residents.

Continuous buprenorphine prescriptions for 6 months or more for the treatment of OUD in New York State, 2017-2021

  • In 2021, 48,933 NYS residents had continuous buprenorphine prescriptions for 6 months or more for OUD. Of those, 42,054 (85.9 percent) residents were from outside of New York City (NYC) (Table 1). NYC has historically had more availability of methadone treatment for OUD as compared with the rest of the state.7 This may be a factor in the lower rates of buprenorphine prescriptions among NYC residents (Figure 1).

Click Here for the Full Report

Thank you to the NYSDOH for your continued partnership with the MATTERS Network and support for patients with substance use disorders across New York State!