Opioid Poisoning Higher in Work Injuries

A new study from Canada’s Institute for Work & Health and the Occupational Cancer Research Centre found that people who have previously experienced a work-related injury are more likely to experience opioid poisonings and other opioid-related harms than the general population.
Reviewing data from 1.7 million Ontario workers who had an accepted lost-time WC claim between 1983 and 2019, the study found emergency department visits for opioid poisonings were 2.4 times higher among formerly injured workers while hospitalization rates were 1.5 times higher.
Opioid-related harms refer to poisonings and mental and behavioral disorders, such as those related to withdrawal and dependence.
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New York’s Workers’ Compensation Board is disabling its Android application for virtual hearings effective Oct. 25.
The agency suggested those interested in participating in a virtual heading instead use an internet browser.
The WCB announcement did not indicate whether the counterpart iOS app would also be disabled.
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Consultancy McKinsey & Co is close to deal with U.S. prosecutors to pay more than $500 million to settle longstanding federal investigations into its work helping opioid makers boost sales that allegedly contributed to an addiction epidemic
A deal, which has not been finalized, would resolve U.S. Justice Department criminal and civil probes, according to reports.
Federal prosecutors have been investigating McKinsey’s role in the opioid epidemic, focusing on its work advising OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma and other drugmakers, Reuters reported in April.
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