Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda
CompPharma’s latest Survey of Prescription Drug Management in Workers’ Compensation (past reports available for download) has some very welcome news; over the last two years, opioid spend is down by one-third. Most of that reduction is from improvements in clinical management … Continue reading Workers’ comp opioid usage is way down
Read More...I’ve lauded the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Comp for their great successes reducing opioid usage. But, I’ve heard from many stakeholders that Ohio’s got a unique advantage; BWC is both the regulator AND the payor, so they get to do … Continue reading The State Fund is solving opioids
Read More...States, cities, counties, school districts, and individuals all have sued the opioid industry. A lot of these have been consolidated in one suit in Federal District Court in Cleveland under what is known as Multidistrict Litigation or MDL. The judge in … Continue reading When are you going to sue the opioid industry?
Read More...My best guess is about a quarter of those are work comp patients. Opioid use disorder (OUD) drains the workforce of qualified, experienced workers, costing our economy $40 billion. Healthcare costs for OUD alone were $28 billion in 2015 – … Continue reading 919,400 people aren’t working because of opioid use
Read More...On a panel discussing opioids, Dr Bogdan Savych of WCRI opened with a review of WCRI’s latest research looking at the link between opioid prescribing and the duration of disability. It is great to see WCRI spend a big chunk … Continue reading Opioids and disability duration
Read More...It can be done. And it is being done – by a state governmental agency, no less. Ohio BWC (the state workers’ comp fund in Ohio)’s Medical Director gave background on just how bad things were at BWC in 2011, … Continue reading How to prevent and stop opioid use in work comp
Read More...Patients taking opioids over the long term don’t go back to work, yet many long-term opioid patients can be weaned off opioids within two years. Those are the quick takeaways from two studies that came out last week. First, a … Continue reading Opioids – bad news and good
Read More...I’m somewhat encouraged, but mostly confused. Briefly, this is the problem with national opioid policy. There’s a major disconnect in DC on what to do about opioids – criminalize addicts, incarcerate them, kill drug dealers – or expand treatment, go … Continue reading What the %$#(*& is going on with opioid policy?
Read More...Some doctors are changing the way they talk about and address pain, offering hope that fewer opioid addicts will be created. And we are starting to learn how to better help those with substance use disorder – a term that … Continue reading An anesthesiologist on opioid addiction and treatment
Read More...Opioid manufacturers and distributors are “lobbying up”, spending almost $2.5 million dollars to lobby state Attorneys General over the last three years, likely in an effort to convince them to not sue manufacturers. These millions allow manufacturers and distributors access … Continue reading Big pharma’s “not responsible” for the Opioid Disaster
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