As Compounds Are Reined In, Private Label Topicals Surge

Compounded medications accounted for just 2% of independent medical review cases involving drug requests during the first nine months of last year in the California workers’ comp system, a decrease from 4.3% in 2017, according to new data. But the apparent diminishing of the compounded pain cream problem might be prompting profit-motivated providers to focus instead on private label topical drugs, one observer said. The data on the proportion of IMR drug requests attributable to compounds came from the California Workers’ Compensation Institute, as part of a study of the impacts ...