Sridhar V. Vasudevan, MD, for The Health Care Advisory Committee of the Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Division, Department of Workforce Development
WMJ. 2019;118(1):61-63.
INTRODUCTION
Opioid misuse and abuse leading to deaths is an urgent problem facing the American public, and prescription of opioids by physicians is one of several reasons attributed to the sudden escalation of this crisis. To address the issue, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued its Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain in March 2016. Prior to that, however, the members of the Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Health Care Provider Advisory Committee (HCPAC) raised concerns regarding excessive prescribing of opioids for patients injured at work who are covered by the Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation System.
This commentary describes the complexity and challenges of pain management, especially chronic pain, and the Committee’s development of Chronic Opioid Clinical Management Guidelines for Wisconsin Worker’s Compensation Patient Care.