"Drugs increase employer pain," Business Insurance July 24, 2011
Narcotics are for pain relief, right? How does that translate into increased pain for employers in their workers’ compensation claims? Business Insurance reports on how the overuse of prescription pain drugs are an increasing problem for employers in terms of increased time off work, drug dependence issues that become claims problems, and the emphasis on transitory pain relief to the detriment of focusing on underlying medical issues. Medical guidelines suggest early intervention in returning employees to the job, screening patients for potential drug abuse problems, and close monitoring of long term narcotic use. But it doesn’t appear that we are seeing much of that nationally or locally. Why not? A current Business Insurance article offers some suggestions.