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Do Opioids Help Injured Workers Recover and Get Back to Work? The Impact of Opioid Prescriptions on Duration of Temporary Disability

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  • Bogdan Savych
  • David Neumark
  • Randall Lea

Abstract

We estimate the effect of opioid prescriptions on the duration of temporary disability benefits among workers with work-related low back injuries. We use local opioid prescribing patterns to construct an instrumental variable that generates variation in opioid prescriptions but is arguably unrelated to injury severity or other factors directly affecting disability duration. Local prescribing patterns have a strong relationship with whether injured workers receive opioid prescriptions, including longer-term prescriptions. We find that more longer-term opioid prescribing leads to considerably longer duration of temporary disability, but there is little effect of a small number of opioid prescriptions over a short period of time.

Suggested Citation

  • Bogdan Savych & David Neumark & Randall Lea, 2018. "Do Opioids Help Injured Workers Recover and Get Back to Work? The Impact of Opioid Prescriptions on Duration of Temporary Disability," NBER Working Papers 24528, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24528
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    7. Joshua Angrist & Alan Krueger, 2001. "Instrumental Variables and the Search for Identification: From Supply and Demand to Natural Experiments," Working Papers 834, Princeton University, Department of Economics, Industrial Relations Section..
    8. Alan B. Krueger, 2017. "Where Have All the Workers Gone? An Inquiry into the Decline of the U.S. Labor Force Participation Rate," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 48(2 (Fall)), pages 1-87.
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    Cited by:

    1. Philip Armour & Rosanna Smart & Elliott Brennan, 2021. "The Causes and Consequences of Opioid Use among Older Americans: A Panel Survey Approach," Working Papers wp419, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    2. Andrei Barbos & Minglu Sun, 2021. "The effect of awarding disability benefits on opioid consumption," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(11), pages 2794-2807, November.
    3. Rahi Abouk & Keshar M. Ghimire & Johanna Catherine Maclean & David Powell, 2023. "Pain Management and Work Capacity: Evidence From Workers’ Compensation and Marijuana Legalization," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(3), pages 737-770, June.
    4. Brown, Timothy T. & Lee, Jadyn & Markarian, Sione, 2024. "The causal impact of shared decision making on pain outcomes: Gender matters," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 355(C).
    5. Aliprantis, Dionissi & Fee, Kyle & Schweitzer, Mark E., 2023. "Opioids and the labor market," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    6. Anna Hill & Isabel Musse & Yonatan Ben-Shalom & William Shaw, "undated". "The Impact of Local Labor Market Conditions on Opioid Transactions: Evidence from the COVID-19 Pandemic," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 190b1e09d8804afe9be9ad3e3, Mathematica Policy Research.
    7. Carolina Arteaga Cabrales & Victoria Barone, 2021. "The Opioid Epidemic: Causes and Consequences," Working Papers tecipa-698, University of Toronto, Department of Economics.
    8. Alexander Ahammer & Analisa Packham, 2020. "Dying to Work: Effects of Unemployment Insurance on Health," NBER Working Papers 27267, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Michael Anderson & Yonatan Ben-Shalom & David Stapleton & Emily Roessel, "undated". "The Impact of the Great Recession on SSDI Awards: A Birth-Cohort Analysis," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 83cb127d5a104e99b753ce01c, Mathematica Policy Research.
    10. Claudio Deiana & Ludovica Giua & Roberto Nisticò, 2024. "Opium Price Shocks and Prescription Opioids in the USA," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 86(3), pages 449-484, June.
    11. Claudio Deiana & Ludovica Giua & Roberto Nisticò, 2019. "The Economics Behind the Epidemic: Afghan Opium Price and Prescription Opioids in the US," CSEF Working Papers 525, Centre for Studies in Economics and Finance (CSEF), University of Naples, Italy, revised 13 May 2019.
    12. Park, Sujeong & Powell, David, 2021. "Is the rise in illicit opioids affecting labor supply and disability claiming rates?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J28 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Safety; Job Satisfaction; Related Public Policy
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy

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