By Liz Carey
Billings, MT (WorkersCompensation.com) – A recent report to the Montana Department of Labor and Industry showed that injured workers in Montana are not only more likely to be on opioids for pain, but also to be still on those drugs years after their injury.
According to a report by the National Council on Compensation Insurance, in Montana in 2016, nearly 61 percent of the prescriptions written for injured workers were for opioids, and that 40 percent of injured workers who got an opioid prescription, got the pills for an injury that occurred six years earlier, or more.
In contrast, nationally 44 percent of all prescriptions for injured workers were for opioids, and 15 percent of those were for workers injured six years earlier, or more.
According to the Billings Gazette, the report came as a shock to some. Cindy Stergar, CEO of the Montana Primary Care Association, said she was skeptical about the data.
“In primary care, we are surprised because we’ve been very focused on how to treat chronic pain,” she told the Billings Gazette. “We would have expected (Montana) to be in line with other states, or possibly below.”
A spokesman with the Department of Labor and Industry said the state is working to combat opioid addiction in the state.
“The Montana Department of Labor & Industry acknowledges and recognizes the dangers opioid addiction poses for those who are injured on the job,” said Jake Troyer, Communications Director for the Department. “Our goal is to make sure each of Montana’s workforce goes home safely each night after their shifts end. When a worker is injured, there should be every opportunity for the employee to return to their time of injury position as soon as possible. We are confident the drug formulary tied with our utilization and treatment guidelines and training and education of our system stakeholders will help address this issue.”
In 2017, Gov. Bullock signed Senate Bill 312 providing a commercial drug formulary. The formulary’s adoption was intended to reduce the number of potentially dangerous drug prescriptions and improve worker outcomes by having employees get back to work more quickly, and to strengthen Montana’s workforce and business’s bottom lines without additional cost for stakeholders, Troyer said.
