Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
Two members of the Perdue family, the folks who made tens of billions of dollars addicting patients to dangerous drugs, testified before Congress yesterday. Both averred there was nothing they could have done to avoid/prevent the damage their company did. … Continue reading Opioid deaths up…Perdue family completely blameless
Read More...Three news items hit the desk, ranging from bad to awful. More than 73,000 of us died of drug overdoses in the 12 months ending February, 2020. That’s four thousand more deaths than the previous year. (note graph below is … Continue reading Opioids – Deaths up, Sacklers likely to escape justice
Read More...myMatrixx released it’s annual Drug Trend Report yesterday; there’s a lot of good news – and a few trends that bear close attention. The good stuff (lots more in the report itself) drug costs per patient decreased by 2.4% despite … Continue reading Work comp drug trends – costs and opioid use down, physician dispensers still a big problem
Read More...Last month RIMS announced its annual awards; one of the recipients is the risk manager for Cardinal Health, another has a similar role at McKesson. Awarding awards for excellence in risk management to two individuals at companies with huge liabilities … Continue reading RIMS, opioids, and awards to drug distributors’ risk managers
Read More...Dr Vennela Thumula led off a panel discussing the latest research on changes in opioid prescribing in workers’ comp. Many factors have contributed to the decline, PDMPs, changes in prescribing guidelines and enforcement via legislation, public education and workers’ comp … Continue reading Opioids in workers’ compensation – what’s the latest research and what can you do
Read More...Today’s WorkCompCentral arrived with William Rabb’s report on the use of opioids by workers’ comp patients in Louisiana. [subscription required] A few notable findings: Louisiana work comp patients get more opioids, and they get them for longer periods of time … Continue reading Time for an effective workers’ comp opioid solution for Louisiana
Read More...Two seemingly-unrelated papers hit the inbox yesterday; CWCI’s just-completed analysis of opioid usage in the Golden State, and NCCI’s report on 2019 workers’ comp financials. The key takeaways from NCCI’s report include: Premiums are expected to drop 10 percent in … Continue reading Opioids and work comp premiums
Read More...Workers’ comp has done an admirable job reducing the volume and potency of opioids dispensed to work comp patients. This from our latest Survey of Prescription Drug Management in Workers’ Comp… The question is – how many work comp patients … Continue reading Where have all the work comp opioid patients gone?
Read More...Reportedly Purdue Pharma, the fine folk behind OxyContin, is nearing a settlement with 23 state attorneys general and thousands of other governmental entities. Here are the key takeaways: this does NOT appear to be a universal settlement; other state AGs, … Continue reading The Purdue Opioid “settlement” – key takeaways for workers’ comp
Read More...The hammer is starting to fall on the opioid industry and the repercussions are echoing thru the comp industry. J&J owes Oklahoma $573 million after losing its case in the state Purdue Pharma’s owners are trying to settle all suits … Continue reading Chronic pain, opioids, and workers’ comp
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