percocet in MO

[Cycler]

no; you do not have to take the pain medication or you take a non-impairing med during the work day.

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Cycler, very easy to say, but not always easy to just do.

Like me, because of certain other medication I take, I just can not take many alternate non-impairing medications. In fact many over the counter meds just might end me up in the hospital.

As for me, I have reduced my medication intake over the years. I live in pain 24 X 7. Some of these pains I can and just deal with. Extreme pain at times needs just a small calm down from time to time. No medication will ever remove pain, but it will help calm the pain down enough to do things. Say if I elect to not take them say today. Okay, but then I'm not going to do much, in fact I know I wont. But, I can deal with that too. But, tomorrow I have plans, so I'm going to take them, I'm going to drive also, and I'm going to do what I want to do, or have to do. But, my reflexes have been tested while on these medications, and they are just fine and within good range.

[Cycler]

B4:
Careful with the false hope - your reflexes would not be affected, slowed or otherwise, by narcotics. Long acting opiates are far less impairing, if at all, than the short acting agents btw. So if the issue is prolonged, non-episodic pain, then it's a fair request to the DR, ( who really should know better ) to discontinue meds like vicodin or percocet in favor of oxycontin os similar and alleviate any concern of impairment at all. It's not a WC issue or a DMV issue at all, it's a Dr. issue

[jayne]

Cycler Wrote:why would WC rules have anything to do with this ? you don't have to take the medication.....

ahhhhhhhhh but there in lies the rub...........The Doc says to take the meds so the pain doesnt get so bad you tighten up and undo all his work........WC says up yours get to work............My Doc took care of the problem for me...he wrote in his notes I was to take my meds at exactly at 6 and 12 pm and am....and if WC and my job wanted to take responsiabilty of my getting reinjured due to my meds then he would put me on light duty he was also temporarily suspending my DL because in his opinion I was not able to take my meds and drive.....But then he hated WC and all they stood for...he also refused to have anything to do with the NCM the WC sent to one appt with me said he was the doc not her and she didnt make the rules for his patients he did.....and between him and my lawyer kicked her to the curb.....

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Cycler, if had read my past post, I did mention Doctor's, and what a doctor could, should do.

[Cycler]

I don't see that but nevertheless it would be the informed consent requirment of the prescriber to counsel against driving while on them med.WC doesn't "say" anything not should they. It's up to the IW to follow the medical recommendation of his physician. I still dont see what you would expect of WC.

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Cycler, what I am saying, is say a person being on medication that they do need. Doctor says can work, some kind of work. Employee advises doctor and employer that the medication impairs them some. Lets say the employer then talks to their work comp insurrer about it. The adjustor in a general sense doesn't care as long as the employee is then working. The employee if allowed to work by employer now, is subjected to get there and back. Then try to work. In a general sense what I'm saying is, wc doesn't allow provisions for medication impairment even if the injured worker does need them. Being said, the employee would, or could be going against safety regulations, state law of the DMV, and no one will be there to help this person. Even if they have an attorney, the attorney can do very little about it. Now if the employee gets re-injured, first thing the employer is going to do is say it was because they were impaired due to medication and refuse another claim. I'm hoping you see where this goes.

[Cycler]

No you are correct, WC is silent on medication impairment as it's not really a WC issue and I can't imagine WC opening that particular Pandora's box. It's the prescribing physicians issue and documenting driving restriction while medication impaired IF the med is actually necessary is as valid a work limitation as no lifting over 10 lbs. etc. and the carrier and employer have the same obligation to respect that limitation as much as any other.

[cnaz]

I couldn't find anything in our AZ state DMV codes that restrict driving for prescribed narcotics. If your driving is reckless or careless then yes, but not an automatic because of meds, just to use caution.

Getting back and forth to work is seperate from being unable to work, the assumpution is that you can arrange alternative transportation if you can still perform job duties while at work.

After my husbands WC related fall (35 ft) my husband had episodic blackouts and after nueropsych eval was released to drive while on Oxy and Percocet with no cause or treatments for the episodic blackouts. He voluntarily chose not to drive, and that was listed as a negative (refusal) in the IME report.
The explanation given was that if he has to ability to decide when, where and how to stop and make turns he is able to drive.

WC does not recognize medication side effects limiting work ability although SSDI does - interesting huh?

[Bad Boy Bad Boy]

Cnaz, that paints a very good picture of what I've been trying to say, thank you.

As we all know, Social Security, looks at the whole picture, not just parts of it. Where as work comp feels what ever is reasonable, and if they the insurance thinks something is un-reasonable it's starts a hearing process in many cases to prove them wrong.

Now if a person was in a serious auto accident, or even driving a truck, damage more than $500.00 can lead to drug / alcohol testing. But, truckers are more subjected to that ruling. As I hold a CDL truck drivers License, I am subject to higher standard of Laws. A CDL License is Federal Regulated as well as State Regulated. Meaning we are Profesionals in the driving field, and should act like it. CDL training is way higher then any other traning of driving out there, as I also feel anyone with a drivers license should have a much higher training standard also.

Just once I wish people would look at the standard booklets for CDL verse just a drivers license. One the CDL book looks like a telephone book, compaired to a pamplet to obtain a simple drivers license.

One time I was stopped for a left turn that was said by the cop not allowed. I said to the cop how would I know this? He said didn't you see the sign? I said what sign? We walked to the area, and the sign was laying on the ground. I said hummm, no, I didn't see that sign, and haven't seen it in the past neither. He said they just put it up. And I said, you should call them back out, and tell them they need to install a pole for it first. Well, he laughed, I got no ticket. But, he had my License and seen my medication on the console. Well, here we go. He said what are those? I said my medication for a work injury, and told them what they were. He say's I hope you not taking them while driving? Well, I had to lie, and say no, or I was going to the police station, and risk my Surburban being towed. And then I said, my doctor's office is right there, I need to bring my medication with me each time I go, and leave them at the sign in desk. I said they monitor my intake of them. He goes or really? I said yes, which I know wasn't a lie now. I went on to say, you can come with me and see. You know what he did. When I set them on the counter, and went into PT, he left, as he had seen it. That's just some what of what a trucker goes through.