"In a sense, insurers are experiencing the consequences of their own policies. During the last decade, they readily reimbursed doctors for prescribing painkillers while eliminating payments for treatments that did not rely on drugs."
Gee, I can't figure out why in$urer$ would want to do that, can you?
"Painkillers hike workers’ compensation cost, insurers say; Injured who take opioids slower to return to work" by Barry Meier | New York Times, June 03, 2012
NEW YORK - Workplace insurers are accustomed to making billions of dollars in payments each year, with the biggest sums going to employees hurt in major accidents, such as those mangled by machines or crushed in building collapses.
Now they are dealing with another big and fast-growing cost - payouts to workers with routine injuries who have been treated with strong painkillers, including many who do not return to work for months, if ever.
Workplace insurers spend an estimated $1.4 billion annually on
narcotic painkillers, or opioids. But they are also finding that the
medications, if used too early in treatment, too frequently, or for too
long, can drive up associated disability payouts and medical expenses by
delaying an employee’s return to work.
Workers who received high doses of opioid painkillers to treat injuries such as back strain stayed off the job three times longer than those with similar injuries who took lower doses, a 2008 study of claims by the California Workers Compensation Institute found.
When medical care and disability payments are combined, the cost of a workplace injury is nine times higher when a strong narcotic such as OxyContin is used than when a narcotic is not used, according to a 2010 analysis by Accident Fund Holdings, an insurer operating in 18 states.
“What we see is an association between the greater use of opioids and delayed recovery from workplace injuries,’’ said Alex Swedlow, the head of research at the California Workers Compensation Institute.
The use of narcotics to treat occupational injuries is part of a broader problem involving what many experts say is the excessive use of drugs such as OxyContin, Percocet, and Duragesic.
Related: Drug-Addicted Doctors
We were told that since then they have kicked the habit.
But workplace injuries are drawing particular interest because the drugs are widely prescribed to treat common problems such as back pain, even though there is little evidence that they provide long-term benefits.
I'm $ure they do to $omeone, I ju$t can't think of who.
Along with causing drowsiness and lethargy, high doses of opioids can lead to addiction and have other serious side effects, including fatal overdoses....
I think we have found the answer to Amerikan ignorance and apathy.
Of course, they don't know and they don't care.
Painkiller-related costs are also hitting taxpayers, who underwrite coverage for public employees such as police officers and firefighters, experts say.
There you go again!
Do they have a pill for anger caused by an agenda-pushing AmeriKan media?
Public employees are great when they can be shown off as heroes and when they are protecting the elite, but don't you dare insist on collective bargaining rights for contracts or attempt to access those hard-won benefits!
There is little question that strong pain medications can help some patients return to work and remain productive. But injured workers on high doses of the drugs can develop chronic pain and face years of treatments.
In a sense, insurers are experiencing the consequences of their own policies. During the last decade, they readily reimbursed doctors for prescribing painkillers while eliminating payments for treatments that did not rely on drugs, such as therapy.
And now it's loose!
--more--"
Let's organize a search:
"More teens use pills to lift grades" by Alan Schwarz | New York Times, June 10, 2012
NEW YORK - The youth exhaled. Before opening the car door, he recalled recently, he twisted open a capsule of orange powder and arranged it in a neat line on the armrest. He leaned over, closed one nostril and snorted it.
All across the parking lot, he said, eight of his friends did the same thing.
And this government has its underwear all bunched up over pot. Pfffft!
The drug did more than just jolt them awake for the 8 a.m. SAT; it gave them a tunnel focus tailor-made for the marathon of tests long known to make or break college applications.
Just wondering where the Congre$$ional hearings are like in the case of steroids in baseball.
“Everyone in school either has a prescription or has a friend who does,’’ the teenager said.
At high schools across the United States, pressure about grades and competition for college admissions are encouraging students to abuse prescription stimulants, according to interviews with students, parents, and doctors....
--more--"
