Study Links Injured Workers' Initial Opioid Prescriptions, Long-Term Use

Initial opioid prescriptions of as short as five to nine days are associated with an increased chance of an injured worker who was previously opioid-free using the painkillers long-term, according to a new study of workers’ comp claims in Tennessee. The association with long-term opioid use was even stronger if the initial opioid prescription was for 20 or more days, according to researcher Zoe Durand and colleagues from the Tennessee Department of Health. The study was published last month in JAMA Network Open. Other factors linked to an injured worker’s long-term opioid use wer...