I’m attending the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit in Orlando. The first conference of its kind, there are representatives from law enforcement, Congresspeople, physicians, Federal regulators, patient advocates and pharma experts, all focused on what this morning’s keynote speaker described as the national health issue with the most potential impact on society.
Nora Volkow MD, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, was compelling and factual, but the impression I was left with was chilling. Her data-centric, science-based approach was cooly clinical.
Until you thought about the individuals who underly the data. Families, kids, parents, coworkers, friends, all are deeply affected by what Volkow could have called a national emergency. I’m sure you know someone who’s been directly and deeply affected by prescription drug abuse.
The leading cause of death of Americans aged 1-35 is unintentional injuries; overdoses has surpassed motor vehicle accidents as the leading cause of accidental injuries. 75% of those overdoses involved prescription drugs.
Reps. Nick Rahall, Mary Mack, and Connie Mack are speaking today as well, confirmation of the importance of this issue.
WCRI’s Dr Rick Victor and I are speaking later today about opioids and workers comp; ours is the only comp-focused talk; after listening this morning it’s more clear than ever that the work comp industry must get very, very serious about opioid use in workers comp.
Apr
11
In my presentation yesterday here, I was surprised to see so many familiar faces. There are a lot of work comp people here and a relative few group health / government payer representatives.
I’m hoping we in comp “get it” and that’s why many of us made it down here. But I’m wondering if we just did a better job networking and communicating about the event.
On course, there are still only 700 people here. Given the magnitude of the issue, there should be thousands….
Joe, I had the pleasure to co-present at the summit yesterday with Det. Ryan Buzzini, Pharmacy Fraud Investigator with the Boise Police Department. Det. Buzzini sees first hand on a daily basis the consequences of our nation’s drug abuse epidemic. Of utmost significance to your readers is his characterization of Health Identity Theft. He reported on a scam where physicians will phone in controlled substance prescriptions (yes this is legal for schedule 3,4 and 5) for their real patients and then have an office worker pick up the Rx on behalf of the patient. The patient is never aware their name was used. All records were kept to the letter of the law. Yet collusion, fraud and diversion were involved. Det. Buzzini discovered this scam because a retail pharmacy’s automated phone system contacted a victim of health identity theft to inform them that an Rx for a controlled substance was ready for pick up. Fortunately that citizen reported it to the police.
Joe, I had the pleasure of seeing you and Dr. Victor present “Compliance with Narcotics Guidelines.” You really captured the grim reality of opioid abuse in work comp, and as you stated, ‘it more than just about money… we’re killing people.’
However, with regards to Dr. Nora Volkow’s presentation, I actually really found her material compelling and necessary. While it may have been clinical, she provided the necessary context for why addiction happens by addressing human brain chemistry. While some presenters took a soft, inspirational angle stating a collaborative, holistic approach to the cure, Volkow gave us a very clear understanding of why this epidemic is actually happening. An equally stimulating and informative presenter was Joseph Rannazzisi, Deputy Assistant Administrator, DEA’s Office of Diversion Control who talked about the balance between preventing the diversion of RX drugs while ensuring an adequate supply for legitimate medical reasons.