Occ Doc Sees Progress on Opioids, Says Fight Will Continue

The percentage of workers’ compensation claims in California with an opioid prescription dropped sharply in 2012 and continues to decline. But with the entrenched prescribing practices of some doctors, the problem of unnecessary and excessive prescriptions for narcotic painkillers will likely remain, according to a medical director for the Permanente Medical Group. Dr. Roman Kownacki, Northern California regional medical director for occupational health at Permanente, said during the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s annual conference last week in San Fran...