Chronic pain is one of the most common, costly, and challenging issues that workers' compensation payers face. The toll it can take on the life of the injured individual is just as dramatic, and costly, on a personal level.
According to the American Pain Institute, an estimated 75 million Americans experience serious pain annually. Of these cases, 50 million involve chronic pain (pain lasting six months or more), while the remaining 25 million experience acute pain (from injuries, accidents, surgeries, and the like). Included in these statistics are the many Americans who experience pain associated with on-the-job injuries.1
Pain's impact on workers' compensation costs is clear. A report in the April 2009 Journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain stated that when a workers' compensation claim involves Schedule II opioids (such as Percocet and OxyContin) for the treatment of pain, the added cost of a claim averages nearly $20,000.2 In terms of return to work, the report said that the odds of chronic work loss are six times greater for claimants taking Schedule II opioids than for those not taking opioids. Injured workers taking long-term opioids of any kind are 11 to 14 times more likely to experience chronic work loss.2
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
