Workers' Comp Group: Most Prescription Drugs Now Sold at Medical Offices

Florida is second in the nation for prescription drugs being dispensed out of doctors offices, according to a study by the Workers' Compensation Research Institute.

The study claimed that 62 percent of all prescription-drug spending in Florida for injured workers was paid to physicians.

The study comes as a fight is expected to be renewed for the 2013 session over how much doctors can charge for drugs dispensed at their offices to workers' compensation insurance patients.

An effort to cap how much medical offices could charge when dispensing medication prescribed by an on-site physician, backed by the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Florida Insurance Council, failed in the 2012 session.

Supporters of the cap claim pharmaceutical costs have jumped more than 600 percent in workers' compensation claims when the drugs are dispensed, or repackaged, from medical offices.

According to the institute -- a non-profit outfit that claims not to take a position -- the study found that certain drugs prescribed and dispensed by physicians in Florida were infrequently prescribed in other states where physician dispensing was not common.

A cap was approved by legislators as part of a larger bill in 2010. But opposition was expressed by medical groups, including the Florida Medical Association and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.