Has a Prescription-limiting Law in Rhode Island Helped to Reduce Opioid Use After Total Joint Arthroplasty?

Abstract

In the United States, since 2016, at least 28 of 50 state legislatures have passed laws regarding mandatory prescribing limits for opioid medications. One of the earliest state laws (which was passed in Rhode Island in 2016) restricted the maximum morphine milligram equivalents provided in the first postoperative prescription for patients defined as opioid-naïve to 30 morphine milligram equivalents per day, 150 total morphine milligram equivalents, or 20 total doses. While such regulations are increasingly common in the United States, their effects on opioid use after total joint arthroplasty are unclear.