Opioid misuse and abuse is a huge problem in the Workers' Compensation field, contributing to an increase in deaths and medical costs.
Meant to be prescribed after major surgeries or major trauma, these drugs are intended for short-term use or end-of-life cancer pain. "Short-term" is meant to signify a span of a few days or weeks—not years, as the current trend indicates.
The Institute of Medicine has reported that chronic pain affects more than 116 million American adults—more than the total affected by heart disease, cancer and diabetes combined—and costs up to $635 billion a year in medical treatment and lost productivity.
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
© 2024 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.
