Minimal Impact Expected for Comp Following CDC's Updated Opioid Guidelines

Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its guidance for administering opioids after softening its stance for U.S. physicians prescribing the medication for pain management. With state regulators implementing controls such as formularies and treatment guidelines of their own, and pharmacy benefit managers and payers also adopting opioid management plans, the new guidelines from the CDC may not have much impact on workers’ compensation. The CDC last updated its opioid guidance in 2016, a time when overdose deaths were climbing and shortly before the U....