Trends in Incident Prescriptions for Behavioral Health Medications in the US, 2018-2022.

Importance: The COVID-19 pandemic reportedly increased behavioral health needs and impacted treatment access.

Objective: To assess changes in incident prescriptions dispensed for medications commonly used to treat depression, anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and opioid use disorder (OUD), before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a cross-sectional study using comprehensive, population-level, nationally projected data from IQVIA National Prescription Audit on incident prescriptions (prescriptions dispensed to patients with no prior dispensing from the same drug class in the previous 12 months) dispensed for antidepressants, benzodiazepines, Schedule II (C-II) stimulants, nonstimulant medications for ADHD, and buprenorphine-containing medication for OUD (MOUD), from US outpatient pharmacies.

The impact of hydrocodone rescheduling on utilization, abuse, misuse, and overdose deaths.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of increased federal restrictions on hydrocodone combination product (HCP) utilization, misuse, abuse, and overdose death.

Methods: We assessed utilization, misuse, abuse, and overdose death trends involving hydrocodone versus select opioid analgesics (OAs) and heroin using descriptive and interrupted time-series (ITS) analyses during the nine quarters before and after the October 2014 rescheduling of HCPs from a less restrictive (CIII) to more restrictive (CII) category.

Results: Hydrocodone dispensing declined >30% over the study period, and declines accelerated after rescheduling.

Repeated or Continuous Medically Supervised Ketamine Administration Associated with Hepatobiliary Adverse Events: A Retrospective Case Series.

Introduction: Emerging off-label medical uses of ketamine for the treatment of persistent conditions such as depression and chronic pain often require repeated administration. Cases reported by other countries suggest that long-term and repeated exposure to ketamine may be associated with several risks, including but not limited to hepatobiliary damage.

Objective: We aimed (1) to characterize the association between repeated administration of ketamine for off-label medical use and hepatobiliary events and (2) to describe recent trends in the use of ketamine across different clinical settings.

Patterns of opioid analgesic use in the U.S., 2009 to 2018.

Although overall outpatient dispensing of opioid analgesic prescriptions has declined, there may still be overprescribing. Understanding how many opioid analgesic units, primarily tablets, are dispensed with the intention of shorter-vs longer-term use can inform public health interventions. We used pharmacy prescription data to estimate the number of opioid analgesic tablets dispensed annually in the U.

Phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor use among pregnant and reproductive-age women in the United States.

Purpose: To assess the prevalence and potential indications of PDE5 inhibitor use among pregnant and reproductive-age women in the United States.

Methods: We identified women 15 to 50 years with a livebirth from January 2001 through March 2018 in Sentinel Database. We assessed the prevalence of PDE5 inhibitor use prior to and during pregnancy by trimester, identified potential on- and off-label indications using predefined diagnosis codes recorded within 90 days before the estimated last menstrual period through delivery.

Trends and economic drivers for United States naloxone pricing, January 2006 to February 2017.

Anecdotal evidence indicates that naloxone prices have risen in recent years, but limited research has examined the magnitude of these increases and potential causes. We contribute nationally representative evidence to help answer each of these questions, including wholesale pricing data from a proprietary drug sales database spanning January 2006 to February 2017. We find that all formulations of naloxone increased in price since 2006 except for Narcan Nasal Spray.

Use of Proprietary Names by Prescribers for Generic Products.

Background: Proprietary names are often used when prescribing drug products in the United States. The purpose of this study is to describe prescribers' use of proprietary names for generic products, branded-generic names, on prescription orders and to identify prescribing practice trends to inform the development and evaluation of new proprietary names.

Methods: To identify Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) with branded-generic names approved between January 2003 and December 2012, we utilized the database provided by the FDA Office of Communications, Drugs@FDA .

New Opioid Analgesic Approvals and Outpatient Utilization of Opioid Analgesics in the United States, 1997 through 2015.

Background: The opioid epidemic, driven in part by increased prescribing, is a public health emergency. This study examines dispensed prescription patterns and approvals of new opioid analgesic products to investigate whether the introduction of these new drugs increases prescribing.

Methods: Prescribing patterns based on dispensed prescription claims from the U.

Impact of pediatric exclusivity on drug labeling and demonstrations of efficacy.

Background: Besides vaccines and otitis media medicines, most products prescribed for children have not been studied in the pediatric population. To remedy this, Congress enacted legislation in 1997, known as pediatric exclusivity (PE), which provides 6 months of additional market protection to drug sponsors in exchange for studying their products in children.

Methods: We reviewed requests for pediatric studies and subsequent labeling for drugs granted PE from 1998 through 2012.

Trends of outpatient prescription drug utilization in US children, 2002-2010.

Objective: To describe trends in outpatient prescription drug utilization in US children and the changes in major areas of pediatric therapeutic use for the years 2002 through 2010.

Methods: Large prescription databases (the IMS Vector One: National and Total Patient Tracker) were used to examine national drug utilization patterns for the US pediatric population (ages 0-17 years) from 2002 through 2010.

Results: In 2010, a total of 263.