Opioids in workers comp – spend is down a billion dollars.

More than 20 years ago I posted this: Oxycontin in WC Where are we today? After a horrific spike in opioid prescribing for workers’ comp, the industry has done a remarkable job reducing unnecessary and inappropriate opioid usage. Well, except … Continue reading Opioids in workers comp – spend is down a billion dollars.

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Catch up…spinal cord stimulators, opioid addiction test and settlement dollars, and electrical grid risks – oh my!

Stuff you may have missed… Spinal cord stimulators…Don’t work. More specifically, multiple high-quality studies found little evidence of pain reduction, no impact on disability, no impact on opioid use, and a relatively high risk of complications (about one in five … Continue reading Catch up…spinal cord stimulators, opioid addiction test and settlement dollars, and electrical grid risks – oh my!

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On chronic pain and opioids, California’s State Fund is getting it done.

California’s State Fund has made impressive progress in the quest to reduce inappropriate opioid use – progress that has undoubtedly saved countless lives, helped thousands of workers regain their livelihood while protecting their families. This has been done thoughtfully and … Continue reading On chronic pain and opioids, California’s State Fund is getting it done.

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Opioids, tapering, and risks – what you need to know

WorkCompCentral’s Mark Powell penned an excellent piece on just-released research on tapering long-term opioid patients. One finding demands our attention; researchers found a statistically significant increase in overdoses and mental health crises in the 12 months after tapering was concluded. On … Continue reading Opioids, tapering, and risks – what you need to know

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Latest data on WC drug spend, opioids, generics and PBM ratings

27 payers were kind enough to participate in this year’s Annual Survey of Prescription Drug Management in Workers’ Compensation.  I’m working thru the data now…here are a few highlights. (The Survey falls under CompPharma, a workers’ comp pharmacy consultancy; as … Continue reading Latest data on WC drug spend, opioids, generics and PBM ratings

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Chronic pain, opioids, and other drugs – the latest research

Dr Steve Feinberg pointed me to two studies conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality on chronic pain, both systematic reviews [reviews of published studies of a specific topic]. One focused on opioid treatments for chronic pain, the … Continue reading Chronic pain, opioids, and other drugs – the latest research

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The CDC’s Opioids for Chronic Pain Guidelines; Myths and facts

After my posts last week it is clear there’s a lot of misinformation and misunderstanding about the CDC’s opioid and chronic pain guidelines. At MCM we take the old-school approach to these things; we focus on the facts. So, here … Continue reading The CDC’s Opioids for Chronic Pain Guidelines; Myths and facts

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The scammers fighting CDC’s opioid guidelines

Several commenters purporting to be chronic pain patients responded to my post about the AMA’s bemoaning CDC’s opioid guidelines.  Their stories were tragic; heartfelt; full of pain, suffering, and grief.  All decried the CDC’s guidelines as wildly misplaced, directly responsible … Continue reading The scammers fighting CDC’s opioid guidelines

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The prescription opioid crisis is far from over

There’s still lots of money in the peddling of opioids, and lots of misinformation out there about opioid control efforts going too far. Correlated? You tell me. The American Medical Association sent a letter to the CDC claiming  “the nation … Continue reading The prescription opioid crisis is far from over

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