Managing Pain While Avoiding Opioid Pain Prescription Abuse After a Delaware Workplace Injury
At Silverman, McDonald & Friedman, we protect the rights of injured workers who are involved in a workers’ compensation dispute after a workplace injury. We urge you to schedule a free consultation with one of our workers’ compensation lawyers in Newark, Wilmington or Seaford.
The opioid addiction epidemic is making headlines almost daily with the death of Prince in 2016 from an apparent accidental opioid overdose, to skyrocketing death rates from opioids, which CNN says are up 72.2 percent from 2014-2015. Injured workers face the risk of addiction when they are over-prescribed opioid pain medication after a workplace injury. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a report that found about 33,091 people died from opioid overdoses in 2015, which includes both prescription and illegal forms of opioid painkillers and represents about 63 percent of the 52,000 deaths from any kind of drug overdose in the U.S. That number is an increase over 2014, when opioids caused 61 percent of fatal overdoses. There were increases in overdoses in 30 states and Washington, D.C.
The state of Delaware has responded to the opioid abuse crisis by passing a law that limits the amount of opioid medications a doctor is allowed to prescribe for an injury or after a surgical procedure to a 72-hour emergency supply at a time. If a doctor needs to prescribe more than that it would require a check of the patient’s medical history, and inclusion in the Prescription Monitoring Program. The doctor would have to present information about the patient’s risk of addiction and abuse and get informed consent form the patient, according to a story in Delaware Online.
The Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) conducted a research study on the use of opioid pain medication after workers’ compensation injuries across 25 states in the United States. The study looked at interstate trends in prescribing patterns and the number of opioids received by injured workers in these states over a 24-month period between 2012 and 2014. The research shows that the states that have implemented reforms intended to curb opioid abuse and strengthening prescription drug monitoring programs are the states where noticeable decreases in the number of opioids prescribed in workers’ compensation claims.
A story in Business Insurance talks about the importance of looking for non-pharmacological alternatives to managing pain after a workplace injury. Dr. Steven Feinberg, who manages a pain clinic in California, said, “The way we should be approaching this is literally individually by every injured worker and looking at what’s the best thing to help them get better,” But the workers’ compensation insurance industry has not been willing in the past to pay for alternative therapies to avoid the use of narcotics. There is a danger in just cutting injured workers off from a reliance on opioid pain killers, and there are serious health risks to allowing injured workers to continue to use the pain medication including the risk of dependence and overdose.
The CDC has released new guidelines for prescribing opioids, which contains guidelines for assessing the risk and addressing the harms of opioid use. The intention of these new guidelines is to facilitate communication between patients and their doctor about the risks and benefits of using opioids to manage pain, and to reduce the risk of long-term use of opioid pain killers.
If you have been prescribed opioid pain relievers after a serious workplace injury, you might talk with your doctor and get advice about alternative options for pain medication and how to avoid the risk of dependence and overdose.
The Delaware workers’ compensation attorneys at Silverman, McDonald & Friedman have been representing injured clients for many years. We know what it takes to build a successful claim and win compensation for you. If you have been hurt at work and have questions about filing a claim or settling a disagreement, we can help. To schedule your free consultation with an experienced workers’ compensation lawyer in Newark, Seaford or Wilmington, please call 302-888-2900, or fill out our contact form today. We are here to help.
Attorney Jeffrey S. Friedman joined Silverman, McDonald & Friedman in 2001. He graduated from Widener University School of Law, and is admitted to practice law in Delaware and Pennsylvania, and in several Federal Circuit courts. He areas of concentration include auto accident and workers’ compensation cases. Read more about Attorney Friedman here.