DEA Sets Measure to Limit Amount of Opioids Manufactured in 2017

The DEA has reduced the amount of Schedule II opiate and opioid medications that can be manufactured in the U.S. next year by at least 25 percent.

A final order published in the Federal Register will cut the amount of opioid drugs that can be manufactured. The drugs include hydrocodone, oxycodone, fentanyl, hydromorphone, morphine and other medications. Prescriptions written for these medications have gone down in recent years, according to sales data obtained by DEA from IMS Health, a company that provides insurance companies with data on prescriptions written and prescription medications sold in America.

The Aggregate Production Quota established by the final order is the total amount of a controlled substance necessary to meet the estimated medical, scientific, research, industrial, and export demands for the year and for the maintenance of reserve stocks.