Fentanyl Lozenge Not Reasonable Treatment for Worker's Back Condition

Over the past decade, there was been mounting concern over the widespread use of opioids for treating chronic pain in injured workers, including fentanyl, which is 100 times more powerful than morphine and used to treat end-stage cancer patients.The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, in a decision published last month, seized upon the highly addictive nature of the painkiller, as well as the availability of alternative forms of palliative treatment, to rule that fentanyl lozenges were not a reasonable and necessary course of treatment for a worker's back injury.Claimants' attorney Vincen...