Data shows Roseburg VA has highest opioid prescribing rate in U.S.
ROSEBURG, Ore. - The Roseburg VA Medical Center had the highest opioid prescribing rate in the U.S. system, according to data released by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The data also shows that the rate of opioid prescribing at the VA in Roseburg has decreased 30 percent since 2012. The Roseburg facility also had the highest rate that year, according to the data.
Veterans Affairs cautioned against making direct comparisons between facilities, however.
"The posted information shows opioid-dispensing rates for each facility and how much those rates have decreased over time," according to the Department of Veterans Affairs Opioid Prescribing Data. "It is important to note that because the needs and conditions of Veterans may be different at each facility, the rates of the use of opioids may also be different for that reason, and cannot be compared directly."
The rates "are calculated by dividing the number of Veterans who received any opioid prescription by the total number of Veterans who received a prescription from that pharmacy within the specified time period."
Over 99 percent of VA facilities decreased prescribing rates for opioids in the past 5 years, the data shows.
Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in Ohio and San Juan VA Medical Center in Puerto Rico both posted the lowest rates in 2017, with 3 percent. That was down from 5 percent for both facilities in 2012.
