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. 2021 Apr 1;181(4):562-565.
doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.7497.

Assessment of Filled Buprenorphine Prescriptions for Opioid Use Disorder During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Thuy D Nguyen  1 , Sumedha Gupta  2 , Engy Ziedan  3 , Kosali I Simon  4 , G Caleb Alexander  5 , Brendan Saloner  6 , Bradley D Stein  7
Affiliations

Assessment of Filled Buprenorphine Prescriptions for Opioid Use Disorder During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic

Thuy D Nguyen et al. JAMA Intern Med. .

Abstract

This cohort study examines changes in the number of buprenorphine prescriptions fill by individuals with opioid use disorder before and during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Alexander reported being a past chair of the US Food and Drug Administration’s Peripheral and Central Nervous System Advisory Committee; serving as a paid adviser to IQVIA; being a cofounding principal and equity holder in Monument Analytics, a health care consultancy whose clients include the life sciences industry as well as plaintiffs in opioid litigation; and being a member of OptumRx's National P&T Committee. No other disclosures were reported.

Figures

Figure.
Figure.. Weekly Averages of Individuals With Filled Prescriptions Before and During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic
Data from Symphony Health, a US database that includes 92% of retail pharmacy claims, 71% of mail order pharmacy claims, and 65% of specialty pharmacy activity. We counted the number of individuals who filled prescriptions in each week between May 6, 2019, and June 28, 2020, except for the week of March 8 to March 15, 2020, which was excluded because this was the week before the transitioning week (March 16). We also excluded several weeks with national holidays: November 26, 2019, December 24, 2019, and January 1, 2020, to smooth the data. Buprenorphine prescriptions of 1 048 575 unique individuals were identified by the national drug codes of buprenorphine products from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2 buprenorphine products (Butrans and Belbuca) were excluded from the sample because they are indicated for pain management.
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