States’ Work to Lower Opiate Use, Addiction Associated with Workers’ Comp.

(Fall 2016) Studies indicate that when it comes to injuries on the job, employees absent from work for over a week have the greatest chance of being issued opioids.  Additionally, between 65-80% of workers injured on the job were prescribed opioids in a majority of the states. But there is some good news: within a 25-state study, five states have dramatically reduced the number of opioids dispensed to injured employees. Michigan, Maryland, Texas, North Carolina and Massachusetts all witnessed decreases between 20-31%. Declines in opioid claims among the 25 states mirrored the strength of their initiatives aimed at reducing opioid usage.

In the Buckeye State, to fight against the opiate issues and drug overdose problem the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) Board of Directors recently passed a new rule permitting coverage of both counseling and medication-based drug addiction treatment for employees who are reliant on pain medications covered by the BWC after being injured on the job. The rule also states that the BWC can refuse to pay for prescription pain medications if physicians are not attempting to incorporate other treatment options. The rule now goes on to the Ohio General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review. If passed, it will be enacted on October 1.

The rule’s underlying goal is to avoid opioid dependence and push doctors to use best practice guidelines, including personalized treatment plans, progress tracking, and assessment of addiction risk when prescribing injured employees opioid painkillers like Vicodinã and OxyContin©. Physicians not adhering to the new standards could be cut from the BWC’s approved providers list.

In 2014, drug overdoses claimed the lives of almost 2,500 Ohioans – the highest annual number to date.

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