Assignment task:
Family members can be a major source of diverted opioids. Yet it is not known to what extent the presence of family member opioid prescriptions is associated with an individual's development of an opioid use disorder (OUD). This is an important question because there is evidence that opioids frequently are prescribed in greater quantities than a patient may require (Bartels et al., 2016). In addition, prescribed opioids often are insecurely stored, and leftover pills sometimes are not discarded (Bicket, Long, Pronovost, Alexander, & Wu, 2017; McDonald et al., 2017). These practices mean that individuals have access to family members' opioid medications, making the medications potentially available for diversion (when opioids are prescribed for one person, but are taken/used by another person in the family) and misuse. Individuals who divert prescription opioids from a family member may have an existing OUD or may be at risk of developing an OUD. That risk may be increased by access to poorly managed prescription opioids in the home. In this study, we used medical and pharmacy claims data from enrollees with commercial insurance to estimate the association of family member opioid prescriptions with the development of an OUD in adolescent dependents, young adult dependents, and adult employees (i.e. the primary individual covered by the employer-sponsored insurance policy) and spouses. Need Assignment Help?