[i] Rudd RA, Seth P, David F, Scholl L. Increases in Drug and Opioid-Involved Overdose Deaths — United States, 2010–2015. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. ePub: 16 December 2016. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6550e1. 

[ii] Paulozzi LJ, Mack KA, Hockenberry JM. Vital signs: variation among states in prescribing of opioid pain relievers and benzodiazepines—United States, 2012. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2014;63:563–8.

[iii] Weiss A, Molly B, Lauren OM, Marguerite B, Anne E, Claudia S.  Inpatient Stays and Emergency Department Visits Nationally and by State, 2014.  Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. June 2017. DOI: https://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb224-Patient-Characteristics-Opioid-Hospital-Stays-ED-Visits-by-State.pdf.  

[iv] Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. SAMHSA Opioid Overdose Prevention Toolkit. HHS Publication No. (SMA)14-4742.Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014.

[v] Jason A. Hoppe, DO; Lewis S. Nelson, MD; Jeanmarie Perrone, MD; Scott G. Weiner, MD, MPH*; for the Prescribing Opioids Safely in the Emergency Department (POSED) Study Investigators, Ann Emerg Med. 2015;66:253–259.

[vi]Overview of State Pain Management and Prescribing Practices.” National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws. January 2016.