The Hazards of Unwinding the Prescription Opioid Epidemic: Implications for Child Maltreatment
研究了遏制处方阿片类药物滥用的两种干预措施(OxyContin配方改革和强制访问处方药监控计划)如何导致儿童身体虐待和忽视增加,揭示了减少成瘾性药物供应对儿童产生的意外后果。
Child maltreatment has significant and long-lasting consequences. We examine how two interventions designed to curtail prescription opioid misuse, the reformulation of OxyContin and the implementation of must-access prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), affected child maltreatment. Our results suggest counties with greater initial rates of prescription opioid usage experienced relatively larger increases in child physical abuse and neglect after OxyContin’s reformulation. We also find some evidence of increases in alleged physical abuse and neglect due to must-access PDMP implementation. Our results uncover unintended consequences for children of reducing the supply of an addictive good without adequate support for dependent users.