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South Carolina

South Carolina

State Facts

931

Deaths, or 67.2% of all overdose deaths in the year ending April 2025 involved opioids.¹

1.2 Million

Claims, or 4.1% of all Medicare Part D claims were for opioids in 2023 – an average of 54 per prescriber.²²

48.4

Opioid Prescriptions were written for every 100 persons in South Carolina in 2023.³

$65.5 Billion

the estimated total societal cost of opioid use disorder (OUD) to the state in 2024.⁴

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Opioid Settlement Funds

$664,006,163.51
State Spending Recommendation

The state’s Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services, alongside the South Carolina Institute of Medicine and Public Health, created a resource guide that outlines core strategies and approved uses for settlement funding.

Member & Endorser Footprint

Voices is backed by a broad coalition of organizations across the state united by a shared goal: ensuring patients have access to safe, effective, 
and individualized pain management throughout the continuum of care.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)

2025 Introduced Relevant Legislation

SB 161/HB 4165

This legislation establishes a state Preferred Drug List that prohibits favoring opioid treatments over FDA-approved non-opioid alternatives for pain management. It also mandates the Department of Public Health to create an educational pamphlet on non-opioid options and provides guidelines for practitioners offering these treatments.

Introduced
01/15/2025
Plan Impact
Medicaid/State Employee
Learn More

Voices Letters

Support for SC Senate Bill 161

Learn More

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2025). Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/drug-overdose-data.htm

2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2025). Medicare Part D Opioid Prescribing Mapping Tool. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/f1051d23738c4980a08002bf301f7d8a

3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2025). Opioid Dispensing Rate Maps. https://www.cdc.gov/overdose-prevention/data-research/facts-stats/opioid-dispensing-rate-maps.html

4. Avalere Health (2025). The cost of addiction: Opioid use disorder in the United States. https://advisory.avalerehealth.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Avalere-Health-White-Paper_The-cost-of-opioid-addiction_OUD-in-the-United-States.pdf