Abstract
The lack of shared definitions around opioid misprescribing is problematic for formulating and evaluating opioid policy. For example, the variant definitions of “misuse,” “abuse,” and “addiction” complicate estimates of morbidity. Reported rates of misuse and iatrogenic addiction for patients on opioids range from 1 percent to 40 percent. There are also no widely accepted definitions of misprescribing and overprescribing. The many medical articles on overprescribing address different problems with different policy solutions: prescribing too early or too often, reflexive opioid prescribing post-operatively, and continued prescribing despite evidence that risks outweigh benefits. Even the most carefully written policies rarely define “overprescribing” or “misprescribing.” I offer here a modest attempt at the categorization of misprescribing.