Comp Systems Struggle to Treat Anxiety, and Observers Say It's Making Chronic Pain Worse

Workers’ compensation systems’ inability to address patients’ anger and anxiety has led to undesirable claim outcomes, including unnecessary costs for employers and poor health results for injured workers, according to a panel of observers. These bureaucratic systems often approve procedures and treatments intended to help injured workers manage chronic pain, but even expensive surgeries can be rendered useless if the systems don’t address underlying behavioral and neurological issues, according to Dr. Chris Brigham, an occupational medicine and disability manageme...