North Americans Far More Likely Than Swedes to Fill Prescriptions for Opioids After Surgery

Opioid overprescription remains a public health concern, despite new guidelines. New research reveals Americans are seven times more likely than Swedes to fill opioid prescriptions. wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock

Americans and Canadians are seven times more likely to fill a prescription for opioid pain pills in the week after surgery than Swedes, says a study published Wednesday, one of the first to quantify international differences.

More than 75 percent of patients in the U.S. and Canada filled a prescription for opioids following four common surgeries, compared with 11 percent of Swedes, researchers report in JAMA Network Open. Americans also received the highest doses of opioids.