AUGUSTA, Maine — A national health report released this week indicates opioid prescribing has fallen over 13 percent in Maine last year, the sixth steepest drop in the nation.
Health data firm IQVIA’s Institute for Human Data Science released a report Thursday showing an 8.9 percent average drop nationwide in the number of prescriptions for opioids filled by retail and mail-order pharmacies.
The Portland Press Herald reports Maine saw a 13.3 percent drop in opioid prescriptions statewide.
New Hampshire saw the sharpest decline in the nation, with a 15 percent reduction.
A strict prescribing law was fully implemented in Maine in 2017 after being passed in 2016.
According to the report, all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia had declines of more than 5 percent.