Printed from BusinessInsurance.com

California revamps some pain management portions of formulary

Posted On: Sep. 7, 2018 12:03 PM CST

California revamps some pain management portions of formulary

The California Division of Workers’ Compensation is updating its formulary for injured workers to include more nonexempt opioids and other drugs, vitamins, minerals and supplements the revised formulary will ban under the workers comp system.

The revised Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule Drug List will go into effect Oct 1. The changes are based on the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Practice Guidelines, according to a statement released by the division on Thursday.

The changes include additional drugs under the chronic pain and opioids guidelines and new, revised, and deleted drug recommendations related to those guidelines. Certain drugs were added to the list as among those that will not be available for chronic pain. They include: antiviral drugs, vitamins C and D3, the body-building supplement creatine monohydrate, among others. 

The division said further updates to the drug list will be made “on a quarterly or more frequent basis.”