“Overprescription of opioids remains a pervasive problem in workers’ compensation,” write Debra L. Doby and Todd M. Jones, lawyers in Goldberg Segalla’s Workers’ Compensation Practice Group.

States have taken individual steps to curb the overprescription and abuse of painkillers, the authors write, through legislation including mandatory/voluntary drug monitoring programs, enforcement measures, and educational awareness for patients and prescribers. But this legislation varies greatly from state to state — and this disparity actually serves to thwart the state’s goal of reducing overprescription.

Here, Deb and Todd explore some practical first steps that would enable states to share data with bordering states. “Once that data is available,” they write, “efforts to curb prescription medication abuse can shift from reforming unresponsive administrative systems to zeroing in on those who abuse and exploit these systems.”

Read the article here:

• “Curbing Overprescription of Painkillers With Interstate Data Sharing,” American Bar Association TortSource, Vol. 19, No. 1, Fall 2016