OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — New research suggests the Oklahoma pharmacies that filled the most prescriptions for powerful painkillers for the state's Medicaid recipients weren't far from the counties with the most residents who died from those same drugs.
The Oklahoman newspaper reports the Oklahoma Health Care Authority crossed data from the medical examiner's office and its own system to see whether any trends existed.
The study looked for trends between where pharmacies that filled the most opioid scripts for patients are vs. counties with the highest rates of prescription drug overdose deaths.
Burl Beasley, a clinical pharmacist, says he noticed some correlation between the location of the highest opioid-dispensing pharmacies and deaths among Medicaid recipients.
Oklahoma has seen the number of residents dying from prescription drug overdose increase in the past decade.