DEA Plans Minor Cuts in Opioid Supply in 2027

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By Pat Anson

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is proposing only minor cuts in the supply of oxycodone, hydrocodone, and other Schedule II prescription opioids in 2027. 

If the DEA’s plans are finalized after a 30-day public comment period, it will be the 11th consecutive year the opioid supply has been reduced in the United States – although the cuts are not nearly as steep as they were in prior years. 

Since 2015, DEA has reduced the supply of most opioids by about 70 percent.  

The DEA announced its plans for 2027 in the Federal Register. Under the Controlled Substances Act, the agency has broad legal authority to set annual aggregate production quotas (APQs) for drug makers – in effect telling them the amount of Schedule I and Schedule II chemicals and medications they can produce. 

In setting its quotas, the DEA relies on the Food and Drug Administration to provide estimates of the medical need for opioids and other controlled substances. In July, the FDA told the DEA there would be a nearly 10% decline in demand for Schedule II opioids in 2027.

“FDA predicts that levels of medical usage for schedule II opioids in the United States in calendar year 2027 will decline on average 9.68 percent from calendar year 2026 levels. These declines are expected to occur across a variety of schedule II opioids including fentanyl, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, oxycodone, and oxymorphone,” the DEA said.   

It’s important to note that medical usage is different from “medical need.” Doctors aren’t prescribing as many opioids as they used to, so while the need for pain relief hasn’t changed and may have even increased, the number of prescriptions being written for opioids has fallen – which is driving the decline in “medical usage.” 

In any case, the DEA’s proposed quotas for 2027 are largely unchanged from this year, with only a few minor reductions of less than one percent:

Schedule II Opioid Production Quotas for 2027

  • Oxycodone        0.81% Decrease

  • Hydrocodone      0.50% Decrease

  • Fentanyl              0.03% Decrease

  • Oxymorphone     0.02% Decrease

  • Codeine              Unchanged

  • Morphine             Unchanged

  • Hydromorphone  20.8% Increase

The DEA says the 20% increase in the allowed amount of hydromorphone came after a request from drug manufacturers to raise the quota due to growing domestic shortages of hydromorphone hydrochloride injectables, which are primarily used in hospitals for surgery and severe trauma. 

A 142% increase in exports of hydromorphone contributed to those shortages, which the DEA recently addressed by allowing manufacturers to produce more hydromorphone in final months 2026. The increase in the hydromorphone quota is being carried forward into 2027.

The DEA is also raising the 2027 production quotas for stimulants used to treat patients with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The FDA was concerned about shortages of those drugs due to the growth of ADHD diagnoses via telemedicine, as well as supply chain problems and manufacturing issues.  

Public comments on the DEA’s proposed 2027 quotas will be accepted until December 10, 2026. To leave a comment, click here.

The APQs will be released a few weeks later – perhaps not until early 2027. If that is the case, it will be yet another violation of the Controlled Substances Act by the DEA, which requires the agency to publish its final quotas by December 1. 

The December deadline is important because it gives the pharmaceutical industry time to prepare for the coming year by adjusting their drug manufacturing and distribution schedules – a process that can take as long as six months.

Last year, the final quotas were not published until January 5. The DEA’s repeated failure to meet the December 1 deadline has contributed to drug shortages like the current ones for hydromorphone and other injectable analgesics