Medical Marijuana Use In Workers Comp Looms: Panel

The landscape for the use of medical marijuana and cannabinoids is changing in workers compensation, and it’s likely that more insurers will be required to pay for this in the near future, experts say.

At the 2019 CLM Workers Compensation Conference Wednesday in Chicago, panelists shared their differing perspectives on the use of marijuana and CBD in the workers comp space and how this may change as states consider new legislation on the medical and recreational use of marijuana.

Dr. Carlos Giron, CEO physician of the Pain Institute of Georgia in Macon, Georgia, said he was skeptical of the use of medical marijuana and CBD to treat pain. However, when patients in his practice — about 90% of whom are workers comp claimants — began obtaining their own CBD products from friends and family in states where it was legal and rejecting prescriptions for more traditional medications, he took notice.

“I started to see an opportunity to use this to improve patients’ safety, and the results I’ve seen as a physician … have been nothing short of remarkable,” he said.