Opioid abuse in the workers' compensation arena is greatlyinfluenced by physician discretion, says the Workers' CompensationResearch Institute (WCRI), a factor that played an important rolein the Massachusetts W.C. system's fall and rise from painkillerdependence.
The WCRI recently published its findings in a report, “Longer-Term Use of Opioids.”
“Massachusetts is a good case study, because when the WCRIlooked at 2007-2010 workers' comp. data in a 2011 study, the statewas a high user of opioids,” says Dean Hashimoto, MD, chief ofoccupational and environmental medicine at Partners HealthCareSystems and member of the Massachusetts Department of IndustrialAccidents (DIA) Health Care Services Board. “This is surprisingbecause Massachusetts has experienced the lowest medical costs inthe country, and was an early adopter of a drug prescriptionmonitoring program in 1991.”
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