CSIA Newsletter Focuses on Opioids

The California Self-Insurers Association first quarter newsletter explores the origins of the opioid problem in the U.S. and what steps employers can take to protect injured workers from narcotic painkillers.Dr. Melvin Belsky, medical director for Safeway, writes that “the floodgates were opened” 20 years ago when Dr. Russell Portenoy launched a movement to normalize the routine use of opioids to treat pain. Prior to that, physicians were reluctant to prescribe the drugs because of risks of addiction and harmful side effects.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said enoug...