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Article: Narcotic prescriptions linked to higher costs.(News)(workplace injuries)
- Article from:
- Business Insurance
- Article date:
- May 21, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Roberto Ceniceros
A California Workers' Compensation Institute study points to what it calls an "alarmingly high'' use of narcotics to treat workplace injuries.
Yet evidence-based medicine findings suggest that opioids should not be necessary to the degree that they are currently used to treat common lower back sprain and strain claims, said Alex Swedlow, vp of research for the Oakland, Calif.-based CWCI.
Preliminary results of the study of 171,000 insured and self-insured claims show a correlation between the use of narcotics and increased claims costs, time away from work, claim duration and litigation, Mr. Swedlow said.
The ...