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New rule helps some addicted to painkillers

The first rule of holes states if you find yourself in one, stop digging. Ohio is among states attempting to avert opioid addiction by reducing the painkillers prescribed to workers hurt on the job.

New rules issued by the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation state reimbursement for opioid prescriptions can be denied if it thinks physicians are overprescribing prescribed opioids such as OxyContin and Vicodin.

Abuse of these painkillers itself is a problem, one that also can lead to heroin addiction. The new rules, in effect, are an attempt to stop digging holes under injured workers.

But the rules also offer a way out for those already in such a hole. They let the bureau provide treatment for opioid dependence to workers who got hooked on painkillers after getting hurt.

Apparently, the approach is working. An article by The Associated Press states steps taken by Ohio to combat opioid abuse have resulted in 44 percent fewer injured workers receiving opioids in the past five years, saving $46 million in drug costs.

That sounds like a whole lot of savings.

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