Researchers: Chronic Opioids Shouldn't Derail Return to Work

Opioid therapy can be one part of a strategy to get injured workers back on the job — sometimes even when the employee is still on opioids when he returns to work, according to newly published research. Returning to work is therapeutic because it provides structure and purpose for an injured worker, said Dr. Xuguang (Grant) Tao, one of the authors of the study published in the August edition of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, or JOEM. Yet too many employers are hesitant to allow injured employees to return to work while receiving chronic opioid therapy, he ...