Business Insurance, July 11, 2018
Pharmacy costs in workers’ compensation have decreased by $1.1 billion during the past eight years as the result of fewer opioid prescriptions, among other reasons, according to a study released Wednesday by CompPharma L.L.C.
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Federal Times, May 8, 2018
Federal workers’ compensation programs fall far behind the regulations established by states and the private sector for opioid prescriptions, resulting in an increased likelihood for opiate abuse and addiction, according to experts who spoke May 8, 2018, before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.
Bloomberg, May 8, 2018
The workers’ compensation program for federal employees is trailing other large-scale programs in addressing opioid addiction, witnesses told a House Education and the Workforce subcommittee May 8.
Doctors are allowed to prescribe up to two opioids for up to 60 days under Federal Employees Compensation Act guidelines. Some state guidelines for workers’ compensation programs allow initial opioid prescriptions of no more than seven days, Joe Paduda, president of CompPharma, told the panel.
New York Times, February 25, 2015
Doctors have long prescribed a muscle relaxant called cyclobenzaprine to treat injuries like back strains, using five- or 10-milligram pills.
But doctors who also dispense the drugs they prescribe directly to patients have recently embraced a new pill that contains 7.5 milligrams of the muscle relaxant. There is no evidence to suggest that the pill works any better except, perhaps, for doctors and the middlemen supplying them. They can charge $3.45, or about five times as much as a five- or 10-milligram pill.
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WorkCompWire, December 17, 2014
Tampa, FL – Drug costs still worry workers’ compensation payers, despite relatively flat pharmacy costs, according to the results of CompPharma’s annual survey report of Prescription Drug Management in Workers’ Compensation. Answering the question “How big of a problem are drug costs?” on a scale of 1-5 with 3 being “Drug costs are equally as important at other medical cost issues,” respondents put drug costs at 4.1.
Tampa, Fla. (April 1, 2014) – CompPharma, a consortium of workers’ compensation pharmacy benefit managers, has published results of its research on compounded medications. “Compounding is Confounding Workers’ Compensation” is available here.
“The benefits of compounds are uncertain, and the patient safety issues are profound,” said CompPharma’s President Joseph Paduda. “Insurance companies and other work comp payers are struggling with the increase in compounded drug prescriptions and their high costs. Member PBMs researched the safety, efficacy, pricing, regulation, and reimbursement of compounds to help the industry better understand the possible benefits and address the risks.”
The analysis found no clinical evidence that topical compounds commonly used in workers’ compensation are more effective than commercially available, manufactured drugs. Additionally, the research identified significant patient safety concerns, including inconsistent regulatory oversight, inaccurate dosing in sterile preparations as well as sterility concerns, duplicate drug ingredients and excessive concentrations of drugs in topical compounds.
“Topical compounds frequently contain duplicative ingredients such as two muscle relaxants and/or two non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDS),” said Phil Walls, RPh, the paper’s lead author. “There is no clinical rationale for these duplications and there are risks of adverse effects.”
Bulk production of compounds raises questions about whether pharmacies are compounders or manufacturers. “Compounds should be prescribed and prepared for an individual with unique needs such as the inability to swallow the manufactured product or an allergy to ingredients in the manufactured drug,” Walls said. “But some pharmacies create bulk batches of topical compounds and then recommend that physicians prescribe them. Is this compounding or manufacturing?” Walls noted that the Federal Drug Administration regulates pharmaceutical manufacturing but not compounded drugs.
CompPharma recommends prescriptions for compounds require pre-authorization to ensure they are used only when there is a patient-specific requirement, as described above. The pre-authorization request should require:
About CompPharma Established by industry consultants Joseph Paduda and Helen Knight, CompPharma, LLC is a consortium of PBMs active in workers compensation. Member PBMs are Catamaran, Express Scripts, HealthCare Solutions, Healthesystems, myMatrixx, and Progressive Medical & PMSI. More information is available at www.comppharma.com.
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Media Contact: Helen Knight, 813-837-1701; helen@kingknight.com
