Medical pot covered by workers' comp, says appeals court

If undefined by statute, workers' compensation provides for an almost limitless delivery of medical benefits. What ever "cures and/or relieves" is authorized and is paid for by the employer/insurance carrier. Today's post is shared from hr.blr.com The New Mexico Court of Appeals recently ruled that an employer must pay for an injured worker's medical marijuana. This appears to be the nation's first appellate court ruling in a workers' compensation case in which an employer has been ordered to pay for medical marijuana prescribed by an employee's healthcare provider to treat a workplace injury. George Vialpando injured his back in a workplace accident in 2000 while he was employed by Ben's Automotive Services in Santa Fe. For years, he was unable to find pain relief through conventional drugs and treatment. His physician said Vialpando had "some of the most extremely high intensity, frequency and duration of pain, out of all of the thousands of patients I've treated within my seven years practicing medicine." In 2013, Vialpando was certified by his healthcare providers to participate in the New Mexico medical marijuana program. The program, authorized by the Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act, permits an individual to purchase marijuana after receiving certification from a medical practitioner licensed in New Mexico that states he has a debilitating medical condition and the potential health benefits of the medical use of cannabis would likely outweigh the health...

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Drug overdose deaths have quadrupled since 1980

The Workers' Compensation system is embroiled in a debate over use of pain medications. As I noted before, the problem of prescription pain medication and the abuse of medical prescribers, Is not limited to Worker's Compensation alone. The problem is systemic in the medical delivery system throughout the United States and it is foolish to think that it is only an exclusive issue two of Worker's Compensation claims. What is actually occurring, is that the insurance carriers and employers in Worker's Compensation, are utilizing this issue to reduce the delivery of medical benefits at the cost of damaging the very Basic requirements of a Worker's Compensation system. Today's post was shared by RWJF PublicHealth and comes from knowmore.washingtonpost.com

Drug overdose deaths have quadrupled since 1980 Since 1980, the number of us who die of drug overdoses has quadrupled. Most of these deaths now result from prescription drugs, especially painkillers. “The dichotomy between good drugs prescribed by doctors and bad drugs sold on the street is just bad science,” one doctor told The New York Times a couple of years back. The really upsetting maps above show this change over the decade that ended in 2009. Appalachia and New Mexico, as popular culture would lead you to expect, were particularly bad areas for drug fatalities fifteen years ago, but now, the problem is clearly a national one. “What other people had been saying was that this was predominantly a rural problem of drug poisoning,” Lauren Rossen, one of the people who put together this analysis, told me. “We were somewhat surprised to find that drug poisoning death rates were actually highest in metropolitan areas.” Exceptions are the state of New York and a narrow band running through the center of the contiguous states, from North Dakota to Texas. Click “Know More” to read more about this troubling trend.

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