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As debate swirls about future funding for California’s $3.7 million a year Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES), a new California Workers’ Compensation Institute study asserts that allowing 3rd party payer...

A study to be published by the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine supports the widely-held — although not thoroughly documented — notion that pre-injury opioid and benzodiazepine use may increase the risk and cost of disability...

Fatal Overdoses Increased Five-Fold from 1996 to 2013 According to a study recently published in the American Journal of Public Health [ See Bachhuber, Marcus A., MD, MSHP, et al., “ Increasing Benzodiazepine Prescriptions and Overdose Mortality...

Greater medical consensus could reduce geographic variability A recent study published by the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine suggests that there is geographic variation in the use of medical treatment guidelines that reaches...

The new edition of Workers’ Compensation Emerging Issues Analysis (LexisNexis) is a veritable cornucopia of expert analysis, provocative commentary, and a 50 state survey of workers’ compensation legislation in 2014 As with last year’s...

By Ronald E. Weiss, Esq. and Ronald Balter, Esq. The year 2016 started with some expectation of substantial “reform” being enacted in the Workers’ Compensation Law. As part of his executive budget, Governor Cuomo proposed some of...

By Albert B. Randall, Jr., Esq., Franklin & Prokopik, P.C. Navigating federal and state laws regarding medical marijuana and dealing with the workplace implications of the national opioid epidemic are challenging issues facing many businesses today...

Sign up here for our free workers' compensation enewsletters (National or California Edition) to receive weekly news items. Be sure to select the enewsletter of your choice. NATIONAL: IAIABC Drafts Model Legislation on Opioid Use . US DOL...

The California Workers’ Compensation Institute (CWCI) has issued a new “Regional Score Card,” the sixth in its research series that looks at workers’ comp claims experience in 8 different regions of California. The new Score Card...

A recent webinar discussed one approach to reducing reliance on dangerous opioids for pain management By Roger Rabb, J.D. The opioid epidemic is perhaps the biggest health crisis facing the U.S today, as an estimated 115 Americans die from an opioid...

The recently released research from pharmacy benefit manager The Express Scripts Lab in the “2013 Workers’ Compensation Drug Trend Report” is equivalent to the State of the Union regarding prescription drug benefits for injured workers...

A new California Workers’ Compensation Institute study shows that adopting a state-mandated workers’ comp prescription drug formulary such as those used in Texas and Washington State could reduce California workers’ compensation pharmacy...

Building on prior research, a recent study sponsored in part by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) identifies eight models that demonstrate the interrelationships...

Massachusetts implements new opioid diversion track By Deborah G. Kohl, Esq. The significance of opioid dependency is clear to all participants in the field of workers’ compensation. The real issue facing the parties is how to deal with this...

Both utilization review physician and MTUS expressly recommended slow tapering of opioid pain medications The WCAB, in a split panel opinion, rescinded a WCJ’s order denying the applicant’s petition for penalty under Labor Code § 5814...