Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
A beautiful Friday morning here in New York’s Finger Lakes…here’s the good news from this week. First, the Supreme Court rejected the Purdue Pharma opioid settlement agreement – thereby allowing victims to pursue legal action against the Sackler family. As … Continue reading Good news Friday – Opioid settlement rejected, lower drug costs, and a solid economy
Read More...A just-published research study examined the impact of reductions in opioids on workers’ comp patients and prescribers in Ohio and Washington. (our research which includes payers’ opioid spend is here) Key takeaways: Providers reported more limited and cautious prescribing than … Continue reading Opioid reduction in work comp and the impact on patients and prescribers
Read More...WCRI’s latest report on drugs in workers’ comp has some excellent news…opioid usage dropped 29% from Q1 2021 to Q1 2023. WCRI’s data is from 28 study states representing the vast majority of workers’ comp drug spend. It may well … Continue reading Solving pain – opioids, NSAIDs, and better options
Read More...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.
Read More...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!
Read More...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.
Read More...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
Read More...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
Read More...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
Read More...One of the top work comp events is three weeks away – WCRI’s annual research conference kicks off on March 23 and continues the following day. Registration is here. I connected with John Ruser PhD to get the scoop on … Continue reading COVID, Claims, Employment, Opioids, and Physical Therapy – WCRI’s got it all
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