How much do narcotics cost workers compensation?
In research completed by NCCI Holdings reports the following:
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Narcotics account for nearly one quarter of all workers compensation prescription drug costs. Few members of the medical community would object to the use of narcotics to treat severe, chronic, cancer-related pain. However, the medical community seems divided over the suitability of narcotics to treat other forms of pain, such as those resulting from the majority of workers compensation injuries. Currently, the FDA is in the process of establishing a federal program to ensure the safe, appropriate use of narcotics. The New York Times discussed this future FDA program designed to control “the prescribing, dispensing and distribution of extended-release [narcotics].” One aim of the future program would be to ensure that only physicians who are properly trained in the safe use of narcotics can prescribe them. Several recent articles and studies also point to increased scrutiny of narcotics use. One article notes that, in at least one state, diagnoses of “chronic pain” or “failed back syndrome,” “virtually guarantee that the claim involves over prescription [of narcotics] because these are the diagnoses used to justify the use of narcotics.” Another states that overuse of narcotics has “shown adverse effects on the overall well-being and treatment of injured parties.”
This NCCI study examines the use and prescribing patterns of this controversial category of drugs in workers compensation.
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Click here for the complete article and research findings
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