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The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s proposed opioid prescribing guideline for chronic pain is a step toward improving patient safety, but it falls short when addressing long-term users, reports a story in Business Insurance.

The voluntary guideline, released Monday along with a Federal Register notice of a 30-day comment period on the proposal, is aimed at primary care providers who prescribe opioids for “chronic pain outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care and end-of-life care.” With health care providers writing millions of prescriptions for opioid pain relievers in 2012, the CDC’s proposal attempts to address the epidemic. Workers compensation is not immune, as many industry professionals say opioid abuse is the biggest issue they face.

“It’s really important that CDC take the lead on opioid guidelines,” said Michael Gavin, Duluth, Georgia-based president of medical cost management company PRIUM. “It’s the right agency to do it. They have the voice, they have the bully pulpit and they should have the credibility.” Recommendations in the proposal cover when to initiate or continue opioids for chronic pain; how to select the drugs, dosage and duration; and how to assess the risks of use.

Mr. Gavin said he’s “concerned that there’s no guidance on weaning and tapering.”

“The guidelines don’t appear to be particularly useful for patients already on chronic opioid therapy,” he said, adding that it’s unclear whether the proposal would influence the workers comp industry’s thinking about legacy chronic pain claims.

More in-depth prescribing guidelines devised by organizations such as the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) and Washington State already are used in workers comp. But the industry still can benefit from the CDC guideline, which will help “general practitioners gain a level of insight and education that they might have been missing before,” Mr. Gavin said.