The number of prescription opioid pills shipped in the U.S. in the second half of the 2010s decreased sharply even as a nationwide overdose crisis continued to deepen, according to data released Tuesday.
The decline in painkiller prescriptions — finally dropping below the quantities sold in the mid-2000s when the overdose epidemic accelerated — happened after state and federal governments tightened prescribing guidelines and state, local and Native American tribal governments sued the industry over the toll of the addictive drugs.
