House Bill 18 has made it out of committee and is expected to be voted on early next week (Tuesday). This bill would drastically change how injured workers in Pennsylvania would get their medications (and what medications they could get). Basically, the Bill introduces “Evidence-Based Medicine” to PA workers’ compensation prescriptions. This means that patients of a work injury would no longer be able to have care (or at least medicine usage) dictated by treating physicians; instead, the use of medications would be through established guidelines (amassing statistical data). This, of course, ignores the simple fact that every patient is different and requires different care. One cannot treat every person identically the same.
This could just be the first step in making “Evidence-Based Medicine” the care for every aspect of a work injury. Imagine that your treating doctor is powerless to order care as he or she feels best, but is instead limited to what statistics say should be done for the majority of patients. It is an absolute disgrace that Pennsylvania legislators think so little of injured workers to subject them to this kind of dangerous and substandard care.
Call your State legislators and tell them how you feel, before this Bill becomes reality!