If you’ve been watching the news you know that there has been and continues to be a deadly trend happening throughout our state and country. Opioids are used as a pain killer for those that may be recovering from injuries or surgeries and they can become extremely addictive. If misused, they can lead to overdose and death.
That is exactly what is happening in many of our communities throughout the state of Connecticut, and it has become a crisis. While opioids are prescribed for many reasons they may be prescribed to those who have experienced a work injury and filed a Connecticut workers’ compensation claim as a way to handle the pain of that injury. Given the addictive nature of the drugs, it can be a logical connection to make that once you are injured on the job and in turn prescribed opioids to manage the pain, that you may be faced with an additional severe problem in developing an opioid addiction.
This is a scenario that has played out many times in workplaces across the state and country and it has caused illness and death in many injured workers. An opioid addiction can lead to a wide variety of troubling outcomes and it would be devastating to develop an addiction after already having suffered due to a workplace injury.
You may not be able to predict whether you will become addicted to the opioids that you are prescribed to dull the pain of your workplace injury, so you will need to make a plan to make sure you are using the medications properly and reducing the risk of addiction. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that following course of action to take to do your best to avoid addiction when prescribed this type of medication;
Develop a plan with your doctor to manage the pain of your injury - talk about all your options and the side effects of any drugs that she/he is prescribing.
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Follow-up regularly with your doctor to make sure the dosage is correct and that there are no on-coming warning signs
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Once prescribed, take opioids as prescribed and do not take more than what is recommended by your doctor.
Taking these proactive steps can make sure that you are healing from your injury while ensuring that your pain is relieved without any additional side effects. When you file your Connecticut workers’ compensation claim you want to make sure that the only injury that you suffer is one that occurred at the workplace and not one that is a residual of your treatment plan.
Our experienced staff of board certified attorneys can work with you to navigate the claims process and protect your long-term interests. Contact our office and one of our attorneys will speak with you today.
