Accidental overdose deaths due to psychotropic and select central nervous system (CNS) drugs have increased significantly over the past two decades. One of several behaviors identified that may indicate greater potential for unsafe use includes “pharmacy shopping,” when a patient visits more than one pharmacy to fill a prescription. In this research brief, we present some of the patterns of drug utilization of psychotropic and other CNS prescriptions to overdoses, with our discussion organized as follows:

• Our findings from Milliman’s Consolidated Health Cost Guidelines Sources Database
• A discussion and further research
• Methodology and data sources