The University of Arizona has received a $100,000 grant to begin research tracking opioid abuse. The study is funded by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Foundation.
Pharmacy assistant professor Jenny Lo-Ciganic will use the grant to review hundreds of Medicare claims.
She will mine them for hidden patterns and geographic clusters that could reveal who is using the prescription narcotics illegally and where prescription orders are concentrated.
Ultimately the University research could generate algorithms to help insurance companies, doctors and hospitals differentiate between illegal use and legitimate pain management cases.
The CDC listed prescription drug overdoses as the number one killer of young adults in America, overtaking car crashes and gun deaths.
