  In October 2014, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) reclassified
hydrocodone from Schedule III to Schedule II of the Controlled Substances Act,
resulting in a prohibition on refills in the initial prescription. While this
schedule change was associated with overall decreases in the rate of filled
hydrocodone prescriptions and opioid dispensing, available studies conflict
regarding its impact on acute opioid prescribing among surgical patients. Here,
we present the rationale and design of a planned study to measure the effect of
hydrocodone rescheduling using a difference-in-differences design that
leverages anticipated variation in the relative impact of this policy on
patients treated by surgeons that more or less frequently prescribed
hydrocodone products versus other opioids prior to the schedule change.
Additionally, we present findings from preliminary study conducted on a subset
of our full planned sample to assess for potential differences in outcome
trends over the 3 years prior to rescheduling among patients treated by
surgeons who commonly prescribed hydrocodone versus those treated by surgeons
who rarely prescribed hydrocodone.
