A commonly prescribed painkiller and anticonvulsant (seizure medication) widely believed to be “benign” has become increasingly associated with overdose deaths in the United States.
The medication is gabapentin, commonly marketed as Neurontin, Horizant, and Gralise.
Over the years, gabapentin prescribing has steadily increased, with 64 million prescriptions dispensed in 2016, making the drug the 10th most prescribed medication.
By 2019, this number increased to 69 million, putting the drug in the top 7 most prescribed drugs.
However, with the increase in gabapentin prescription, overdose deaths where gabapentin was detected have also increased.
From 2019 to 2020, gabapentin was detected in up to 1 out of 10—9.7 percent—overdose deaths, with half of these deaths involving gabapentin, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)….