Opioid Spend Drops 15% in 2018, Specialty Meds a Concern, MyMatrixx Reports

Workers’ comp drug spending, excluding specialty drugs, dropped 3.8% last year, and spending on opioids fell 15%, according to a drug trend report released Thursday by myMatrixx. Last year’s decrease in opioid spending was the third year in a row with a double-digit drop, and opioid spend has fallen 40.4% since 2015, according to the report. Opioid spending last year was $268.88 per patient, the report said. The number of injured workers using opioids for 30 days or more fell, from 21% in 2017 to 17.6% last year. “That is excellent news for everyone, but most importantly f...