(BUSINESS WIRE) -- The conflicting problems of unrelenting chronic pain and prescription drug abuse directly and indirectly cost U.S. taxpayers, insurers and employers more than $323 billion annually, according to a new study released today by Laffer Associates, an economic research and consulting firm, and the Millennium Research Institute (MRI). According to this joint study, the $323 billion cost could be reduced in part through the widespread implementation of Urine Drug Tests (UDTs), one of the few clinical tools available to physicians to assess whether their patients are taking their prescribed medications, taking additional non-prescribed medications and/or supplementing their prescription drug regimen with use of illicit drugs or alcohol, potentially leading to a greater risk of adverse physiological interactions or diversion. The Laffer/MRI study articulates an economic benefit of in office screening and laboratory UDTs of more than three times their cost, resulting in an aggregate net direct and indirect benefit of more than $25 billion, depending on test frequency.  » More