Today’s issue of WorkCompRecap features the release of a new report from the California Workers’ Compensation Insitute (CWCI) that examined the potential ramifications of the AMA’s recent vote to reclassify obesity as a treatable disease, and found that the number of work injury claims involving obesity, as well as associated costs, could increase sharply.
Using data from 1.2 million claims, CWCI found that claims with an obesity co-morbidity have had significantly higher rates of lost time from work, permanent disability, and attorney involvement, and have been much more likely to involve additional co-morbidities as well as prescriptions for opioid painkillers and psychotropic drugs – all of which are associated with higher claim costs.
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