Study: Opioid prescriptions down

U.S. opioid prescriptions plunged 17 percent last year, according to the Danbury-based IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, the single largest drop ever for the pain medication as scrutiny intensifies on physicians, distributors and manufacturers. Opioid prescriptions had declined 12 percent in 2017, with major manufacturers including Stamford-based Purdue Pharma. Last year’s drop came amid a 2.7 percent increase in prescriptions dispensed by physicians.