Opioid Prescriptions Are Down by Half. If Your Pain Pills Were Cut Off, Read This

On October 27, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced that opioid deaths have fallen to their lowest level in nearly a decade. Part of the story it told was about pain pills: far fewer are being prescribed than ten years ago.

Fewer unnecessary prescriptions is a good thing. But behind that number are real people in Northwest Arkansas who took a pain medicine every day for years and then had it cut back or stopped, sometimes quickly.

If that is you, or someone you love, this article is for you.

What the new federal numbers show

The HHS analysis looked at pharmacy records from March 2015 through March 2026, adjusted for population. Compared with 2015:

• Opioid prescriptions dispensed fell to 45.3% of their 2015 level.
• The total amount of opioid medicine dispensed fell to 35.2%.
• The number of people getting opioid prescriptions at retail pharmacies fell to 49.6%, about half.
• The number of people filling prescriptions for buprenorphine or naltrexone, medicines that treat addiction, rose to 218%, more than double.

Opioid deaths fell too. CDC provisional data show deaths involving opioids dropped from an estimated 55,296 in 2024 to 44,564 in 2025.

The analysis's authors were careful to say that lower prescribing alone does not explain the drop in deaths, given how much of today's crisis is driven by illicit fentanyl.

Why Arkansas feels this more than most states

Arkansas has long been one of the heaviest-prescribing states in the country. In 2015, pharmacies here dispensed 117.2 opioid prescriptions for every 100 residents, according to the CDC.

That number has come down a lot. But in 2024, Arkansas still had the highest opioid dispensing rate of any state, at 68.8 prescriptions per 100 people.

So there are a lot of people here who have been on pain medicine for a long time. Some are still on it. Many have had their doses lowered or their prescriptions ended in the last few years.

What a sudden cutoff can do

The FDA has warned that suddenly stopping or rapidly lowering opioid pain medicine in someone whose body depends on it has led to serious withdrawal symptoms, uncontrolled pain and suicide. FDA labels also note that people may try to treat their pain or withdrawal with illicit opioids such as heroin.

A large study in JAMA looked at more than 113,000 patients on stable, long-term, higher-dose opioids. After their doses were tapered, they had about 68% more overdose events and roughly twice as many mental health crises, such as depression, anxiety or suicide attempts. Faster reductions carried more risk. The study was observational, so it cannot prove the taper caused those events, but it is a clear warning.

The CDC's 2022 prescribing guideline says opioids should not be stopped abruptly unless there is a life-threatening problem, and that tapers of about 10% per month or slower are usually better tolerated in people who have taken opioids for a year or more.

The danger today is what is waiting outside the pharmacy. The DEA warns of fake pills that are mass-produced and sold as if they were legitimate; it seized more than 47 million fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills in 2025. And the FDA says concentrated 7-OH, an opioid that can be more potent than morphine, is easy to buy in gas stations, corner stores and vape shops. I wrote about those in what's in street fentanyl now and the national 7-OH ban.

Dependence is not the same as addiction

This is important, and people often feel ashamed about it for no reason.

If you take a pain medicine as prescribed for a long time, your body adapts. You may need more for the same effect, and you may get withdrawal if it stops. That is physical dependence. The CDC guideline says tolerance and withdrawal do not count toward a diagnosis of opioid use disorder when someone takes opioids under appropriate medical supervision.

Opioid use disorder is different. Signs include taking more than intended, trying and failing to cut down, strong cravings, and use that keeps causing problems at home or work. After a cutoff, some people start buying pills, using someone else's prescription, or turning to 7-OH or fentanyl. If that is happening, it is a medical problem, not a moral failure. My article on recognizing opioid use disorder goes into more detail.

What to do if your pain medicine was cut off or reduced

1. Talk to your prescriber first. Ask for a slower taper if you're struggling. The FDA tells patients not to stop or rapidly lower opioid pain medicine without talking to a health care professional.
2. Don't fill the gap with street pills or 7-OH. You cannot know what is in them.
3. Keep naloxone (Narcan) at home, especially if anyone in the house takes opioids of any kind.
4. Be honest with yourself about what's happening. If you are buying pills, running out early, or using 7-OH to get through the day, treatment can help.

For people with opioid use disorder, the CDC recommends offering medication treatment, and says detox alone is not recommended because it raises the risk of returning to use, overdose and overdose death.

How I can help

I treat opioid use disorder with Suboxone (buprenorphine-naloxone). I'm not a pain clinic, and I won't pretend to be one. But if a cutoff has pushed you toward street pills or 7-OH, I can help, and I'll be straight with you about whether my clinic is the right fit.

You see me every visit. Your first Suboxone dose is taken in my office, so I can get the timing right. Scheduled visits are $200; unscheduled after-hours visits are $300. I don't bill insurance. Your records are private under HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2. I don't offer inpatient detox or methadone dispensing, and if you need either I'll help you find it.

Call me at 479-856-1505. I answer my own phone, day or night. You can ask questions for yourself or for someone you love, and you don't have to decide anything on that call. The first visit page explains what happens if you come in.