Report finds holes in government's efforts to combat prescription drug abuse

Federal agencies need to better track whether their efforts to educate painkiller prescribers about the risk of drug abuse are working, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report.

The report comes as the government seeks to crack down on prescription drug abuse, which now causes more deaths than cocaine and heroin combined. 

Several agencies have developed strategies that include "developing continuing medical education programs, requiring training and certification in order to prescribe certain drugs, and developing curriculum resources for future prescribers," the report says. And the Office of National Drug Control Policy is developing legislation requiring education for prescribers registering with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to prescribe controlled substances.

"Agencies varied in how they used the key practices when developing these efforts, which varied in size, scope, and duration," GAO found. "All agencies established metrics to monitor the implementation and functional elements of their educational efforts, but only two agencies have established or are planning to establish metrics to assess the impact of their efforts on audiences’ knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. 

"Without outcome evaluations, federal agencies have limited knowledge of how effective their efforts are in achieving their goals — in this case, reducing prescription pain reliever abuse and misuse."

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