Largest Drop in Opioid Spend Notched in 2017

The Florida Division of Workers’ Compensation released an opioid summary report Thursday showing payments for painkillers dropped just more than 11% in 2017 compared to the previous year. Report data from 2013 to 2017 shows total payments for opioids have decreased each year since 2015. At the same time, the data shows the number of times opioids appear on a physician or pharmacy bill dropping for every year covered in the report. The DWC reports opioid payments in 2017 totaled $30.5 million, with $25.3 million paid for drugs dispensed by a pharmacy and $5.2 million going for...