Doctors in states that track painkiller prescriptions were nearly one-third less likely to offer patients dangerously addicting opioids, a new study found. The launch of drug-monitoring programs in 24 states led to an immediate 30 percent drop in prescriptions for Schedule II opioids, the most addictive, in patients with pain complaints, the study showed.

A looming 17.1 percent increase in workers’ compensation insurance rates has Florida businesses worried. Proposed by the National Council on Compensation Insurance on May 27, the increase comes after 13 years of declines in rates.

A Bridgeport man who was supposedly rendered unable to work as a state judicial marshal due to on-the-job injuries was arrested today and charged illegally collecting Workers’ Compensation benefits after he was seen working a security job at a Stamford bar.

A worker for a hot air balloon company was carried aloft holding onto the aircraft’s basket and fell to his death in New York state, police said on Saturday.

One man was killed when the garbage truck he was riding on the back of was hit by another vehicle Thursday morning.
Alabama State Troopers say, Harold James Dickey, 34, was killed when the garbage truck was hit be a 2013 Ford F350 driven by Kernie M. Risner, 33 of Blountsville.

The Workers’ Compensation Benchmarking Study’s 2016 claims leader survey is now underway, offering a chance for professionals in the field to share their knowledge of issues impacting claims organizations today.

As two criminal cases became public this week, the Justice Department today announced three cases in which additional defendants have pleaded guilty to federal charges for participating in a long-running health care fraud scheme that illegally referred thousands of patients for spinal surgeries and generated nearly $600 million in fraudulent billings over an eight-year period.

A day in the life of a workers’ compensation claims professional can be hectic to say the least. New losses that demand immediate attention come in continually.

A man has died after being crushed by pallets of mushrooms at a plant in central Florida. The Orlando Sentinel reports Orange County sheriff’s spokeswoman Rose Silva says 45-year-old Bruce Edward Stephenson Jr. of Tavares was moving the pallets Monday with a forklift at the Monterey Mushrooms Inc. plant in Zellwood when the pallets began swaying.

A massive case of insurance fraud spearheaded by a chiropractor has ensnared seven defendants named in a pair of indictments. Riverside County prosecutors allege that $98 million was fraudulently billed to 18 insurance companies.

A Santa Barbara police officer was charged with four felonies related to worker’s compensation insurance fraud, allegedly committed while employed at the department, the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office said Monday.

A spokeswoman for the Mining Safety and Health Administration says workers are searching for the bodies of two men who were buried in mud and slush at a gravel pit in southern Mississippi.

The rest of the world is beginning to catch up to the progress workers’ comp has made fighting the opioid scourge. Kudos to PBMs, payers, regulators, researchers and some physicians for recognizing the incredibly negative effects of opioids years ago, and taking action to mitigate some of these effects.

A train conductor fell off a train and died Saturday night at the Royal Gorge Railroad scenic route in Colorado, authorities said. Police identified the victim as Leslie Cacy, 28.

It is critical that claims administrators and treating physicians obtain an accurate history of illegal substance use and abuse from an injured worker. This history is important when there is a physical injury for purposes of appropriately prescribing an opioid pain medication.