Medicaid patients may be at high risk for overdose death caused by the opioid painkiller methadone, according to a study released Thursday.
The researchers looked at Washington, where the 2006 rate of opioid painkiller overdoses was significantly higher than in the rest of the country. Between 2004 and 2007, 1,668 people in Washington died of prescription opioid-related overdoses. Of those, 58.9 percent were male, 34.4 percent were 45 to 54 years old, and 45.4 percent were Medicaid clients.
The study found that Medicaid clients had a 5.7-fold increased risk of dying from a prescription opioid-related overdose. Methadone was involved in nearly two-thirds of those Medicaid client deaths.
It may be possible to minimize the risk by examining patterns of opioid prescribing to Medicaid clients and intervening with those who appear to misuse the drugs, the researchers concluded.
The study appears in the latestMorbidity and Mortality Report, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Deaths involving prescription opioid painkillers are a major reason why the number of poisoning deaths in the United States nearly doubled from 1999 to 2006.