Opioid Prescriptions Drop 9 Percent, but Not Far Enough

The number of prescriptions for opioid painkillers filled in the U.S. fell dramatically last year — the biggest drop in 25 years. People in the U.S. consume roughly 30 percent of all opioids used worldwide. The Institute for Human Data Science, a health data firm, shared those figures Thursday, revealing a nine percent average drop nationwide in the number of prescriptions for opioids filled by both retail and mail-order pharmacies. All 50 states and the District of Columbia had declines of more than 5 percent, the study noted.