The State of Florida has implemented several measures aimed at curbing prescription drug abuse. One measure was a Prescription Drug Monitoring Program that created a database that tracks individual prescriptions so physicians can monitor their patient’s prescription use and help prevent against addiction and illicit use. The State of Florida also began to better regulate so-called “pill mills”, which are loosely regulated pain clinics that often have disproportionately high levels of opioid prescriptions.

In the first 12 months after implementation of these laws Florida’s opioid prescriptions fell 1.4 percent and the volume of opioids prescribed fell 2.5 percent. The amount per prescription also declined 5.6 percent. The declines were among the heaviest users and prescribers. All in all, this shows that giving physicians greater access to patient information can help curb problems of prescription drug use and dependency issues that may plague workers’ compensation beneficiaries.