A new report shows that less than a quarter of all prescriptions were for opioid medications.
According to the California Workers’ Compensation Institute, the use of opioid medications to treat injured California workers has decreased over the past decade, thanks to efforts to curb the use of these addictive drugs. The research shows that opioid prescriptions account for less than 1/4 of all workers’ compensation prescriptions in California, down from 1/3 in 2008-2009. Instead of narcotic pain relievers, doctors are prescribing other medications to treat pain, such as anti-inflammatories and anti-convulsants.
While public attention to the opioid epidemic has increased in the past few years, the trend in decreasing numbers of prescriptions for these drugs has been happening for longer — for approximately five to seven years. The California Workers’ Compensation Institute studied a sample of 12.5 million prescriptions issued to injured California workers between 2007 and 2017, and focused on drugs used to treat workers with lost time claims. In 2017, the share of payments for opioids fell to 18.6 percent, which is the lowest level in more than a decade.
This positive trend is a result of more doctors being cautious about prescribing opioids to treat patients, as well as workers being worried about taking these types of medications, which they know are highly addictive. In addition, workers’ compensation insurers are increasingly refusing to pay for opioid medications and have adopted a new drug formulary that encourages doctors to utilize other medications.
While the efforts to reduce the number of injured workers who use opioid medications and may become addicted to them as a result may have good intentions, it may also result in some severely injured workers being unable to obtain the treatment that they need for the injuries that they have suffered. Although opioids are highly addictive, they are also effective at treating pain. For some injuries, including catastrophic injuries caused by falls, crushing injuries and other types of workplace accidents, opioid medications may be the only drug that can effectively manage pain. As an experienced California workers’ compensation attorney can explain, it should be up to the patient and his or her treating physician to determine what the best treatment option is — not an insurance company looking to cut costs or get injured workers back to the job more quickly.
Reducing potential opioid addiction is a worthwhile goal. However, injured workers should be permitted to obtain the necessary medical treatment to help them recover and return to work when they are able. A skilled California workers’ compensation attorney can help an injured worker fight for his or her right to obtain the benefits that he or she deserves — including obtaining the proper medication.
At PLBH, our California workers’ compensation attorneys have more than 50 years of combined experience helping employees get benefits for the injuries that they have suffered at work. Contact our firm today at (800) 435-7542 or info@plblaw.com to schedule a free initial consultation, and learn more about how we can help you.