Doctors, Patients and Opioid Abuse

Getting to the real reasons why doctors prescribe opioids to opioid abusers is an apparent challenge to the essence of the nation's workers' compensation system. In a recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine it is revealed that doctors continue to prescribe opioids to abusers because of "...Recent changes in medicine's philosophy of pain treatment, cultural trends in Americans' attitudes toward suffering, and financial disincentives for treating addiction ..."

Until the workers' compensation medical delivery program furnishes treatment delivery in an effective and efficient manner the challenge of drug addiction will tragically continue.

More about drug addiction

Workers' Compensation: Physicians Petition to Limit Opioid Abuse

Jul 27, 2012

Pharmaceutical reform has been a major topic of interest and reform efforts nationally in the workers' compensation arena. More particularly the alledged abuse of opioids have received particular attention. Several physicians ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Whose to Blame for Opioid Abuse in Workers' Compensation Claims?

May 24, 2012

A recent Texas case holding an employer liable holding an employed liable for a fatal opioid overdose arising out of work-related event highlights again that, the workers' compensation medical delivery system just isn't ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: Nursing Home Abuse: Drugging of Patients

Jan 28, 2012

Nursing Home Abuse: Drugging of Patients. Many seriously injured workers end up living in nursing homes for convenience and care. Workers compensation act usual pay for nursing home care, but do they really know what ...

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Workers' Compensation: Workers Compensation Insurance ...

Oct 28, 2009

The Wall Street Journal reports today about a claim against pharmacies as a result of customer drug abuse. In the State of Nevada a case is pending that may confer liability upon a drugstore for the consequences of an ...

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State of NJ Sues a NJ Based Opioid Manufacturer Seeking Reimbursement of Workers' Compensation Costs

The NJ Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against a subsidiary of NJ based Johnson and Johnson seeking reimbursement for workers' compensation costs resulting from deceptive opioid advertising. This is a significant action as Johnson and Johnson is a major player in New Jersey's economy.

NJ Supreme Holds Employers Responsible for Workers' Compensation Medical Marijuana Costs

The NJ Supreme has recognized that the workers’ compensation system has a legislative mandate to provide the safest medical care to cure and relieve occupational injuries. The Court acknowledged both state and Federal trends to provide non-addictive and non-fatal pain relief in place of the dangerous opioids. 

 

The intent that embraced the creation and development of the social insurance system has given the Court a rational and logical basis, consistent with public policy, to order medical marijuana for palliative care.

For most chronic pain, neurologists declare opioids a bad choice

Today's post was shared by Take Justice Back and comes from www.latimes.com

Patients taking opioid painkillers for chronic pain not associated with cancer -- conditions such as headaches, fibromyalgia and low-back pain -- are more likely to risk overdose, addiction and a range of debilitating side effects than they are to improve their ability to function, a leading physicians group declared Wednesday.

The long-term use of opioids may not, in the net, be beneficial even in patients with more severe pain conditions, including sickle-cell disease, destructive rheumatoid arthritis and severe neuropathic pain, the American Academy of Neurologists opined in a new position statement released Wednesday.

But even for patients who do appear to benefit from opioid narcotics, the neurology group warned, physicians who prescribe these drugs should be diligent in tracking a patient's dose increases, screening for a history of depression or substance abuse, looking for signs of misuse and insisting as a condition of continued use that opioids are improving a patient's function.

In disseminating a new position paper on opioid painkillers for chronic non-cancer pain, the American Academy of Neurology is hardly the first physicians group to sound the alarm on these medications and call for greater restraint in prescribing them.

But it appears to be the first to lay out a comprehensive set of research-based guidelines that...


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Related articles

• Opioid Use in Workers' Compensation (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Why Doctors Prescribe Opioids to Known Opioid Abusers - NEJM (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

Federal research seeks alternatives to addictive opioids for veterans in pain

The National Institutes of Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs this week announced that they will launch a five-year, $21.7 million initiative to study the effectiveness of alternative therapies to opioids through a series of 13 research projects. Nearly half of all troops returning home from Afghanistan and Iraq are suffering from chronic pain, more than double the civilian population, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. Many of those veterans have been prescribed opioids. The drugs often have disabling side effects, and some studies show they are often addictive and may exacerbate pain conditions in some patients. The joint research program includes studies on the use of morning light to treat lower-back pain and post-traumatic stress disorder, and the use of chiropractors, self-hypnosis and meditation to reduce pain, said Josephine P. Briggs, director of the National Center of Complementary and Alternative Medicine at NIH. Funding for the initiative comes from the NCCAM, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the VA’s Health Services Research and Development Division. The research projects will be done at academic institutions and VA medical centers across the United States. “This is a very urgent issue for the soldiers returning home – the magnitude of the problem is huge,” Briggs...

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Related articles

• For most chronic pain, neurologists declare opioids a bad choice (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Opioid Use in Workers' Compensation (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Why Doctors Prescribe Opioids to Known Opioid Abusers - NEJM (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Bill Creating Clear Guidelines in Dispensing of Opiod Medications Introduced in New Jersey Senate (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• DEA: Vicodin, Some Other Pain Meds Will Be Harder to Get (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Chicago and 2 California Counties Sue Over Marketing of Painkillers (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• F.D.A. Shift on Painkillers Was Years in the Making (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

DEA: Vicodin, Some Other Pain Meds Will Be Harder to Get

Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from www.kaiserhealthnews.org

Patients who use drugs containing hydrocodone as a pain reliever or cough suppressant are going to have to jump through more hoops to get them starting next month. The Drug Enforcement Administration is reclassifying so-called “hydrocodone combination products” from Schedule III to Schedule II under the Controlled Substances Act, which will more tightly restrict access. Vicodin, for example, is an HCP because it has hydrocodone and acetaminophen. The final regulation, which takes effect Oct. 6, will mean that patients generally must present a written prescription to receive the drug, and doctors will no longer be able to call in a prescription to the pharmacy in most instances. The regulation is a response to the widespread misuse of prescription pain killers. In an emergency, doctors will still be able to call in a prescription, according to the new rule. And although prescription refills are prohibited, a doctor can, at his discretion, issue multiple prescriptions that would provide up to a 90-day supply. These measures don’t satisfy consumer advocates or pharmacists who are opposed to the new rule. While acknowledging that there has been an uptick in abuse and adverse events related to opioid painkillers, one patient advocate says the new rule restricts access indiscriminately. “We certainly want steps taken to reduce...

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• Vicodin, other common opioid painkillers will be harder to get when U.S. tighten regs (medcitynews.com)