Lidoderm Unseats OxyContin to Top The Hartford's New List of Top 25 Drugs Used in Workers' Compensation

Business Wire, Dec 10, 2007

HARTFORD, Conn. -- The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG) released its 2006 annual study of the 25 most costly drugs in workers' compensation, and the results this year may be considered surprising. OxyContin, the long-acting narcotic painkiller that headed the list each year since 2001, had dropped to number five, replaced by Lidoderm, a non-narcotic pain killer in patch form.

"We remain concerned about the widespread use of narcotic pain killers to manage non-malignant pain in injured workers," said Dr. Robert Bonner, MD, MPH and medical director for The Hartford. "Narcotics account for 40 percent of the workers' compensation claim dollars we spend on pharmaceuticals, but other pain management drugs and combinations would work equally well for some patients and avoid the potential risks associated with narcotics."

Given OxyContin's continued popularity in the face of years of publicity about patients becoming addicted or selling the drug, it is unclear as to how the use of this drug will trend over the next few years.

One reason The Hartford publishes its annual study is to track expenditure over time as they impact trends. The Hartford found workers' compensation pharmacy costs relatively flat for the past two years, rising just three percent in 2006 after dropping by one percent in 2005. Bonner credits his team's careful and aggressive pharmacy oversight.

"Pharmacy is now a big portion of workers' compensation costs, so ensuring that the appropriate medications are used is not only good for our insured workers, but also helps stabilize rates for workers' compensation, an insurance coverage that virtually every business with employees must carry," Dr. Bonner said. "Working with our pharmacy benefits manager, we flag and investigate drugs that seem inappropriate for the injury, encourage the use of generic equivalent drugs when available and talk with physicians when we are concerned about the safety or reliability of a particular drug."

Ensuring that the correct reimbursement is made remains a challenge in the face of steep per-prescription increases. The average per-dose price of Actiq (#7), already the most expensive drug used for workers' compensation patients, rose 70 percent, and the anti-depressant Tofranil-PM (#146), rose by 74 percent.

A complete list of The Hartford's Top 25 Drugs in Workers' Compensation accompanies this news release. The list, which shows ranking by total paid for the medication for 2004, 2005 and 2006, as well as year by year paid-per-prescription increases or decreases for each drug, is based on aggregated worker's compensation claim data from The Hartford.

The Hartford, a Fortune 100 company, is one of the nation's largest diversified financial services companies, with 2006 revenues of $26.5 billion. The Hartford is a leading provider of investment products, life insurance and group benefits; automobile and homeowners products; and business property and casualty insurance. International operations are located in Japan, Brazil and the United Kingdom. The Hartford's Internet address is www.thehartford.com.

HIG-PC

Some of the statements in this release may be considered forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements about our future results of operations. We caution investors that these forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially. Investors should consider the important risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ. These important risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, those discussed in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K and the other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We assume no obligation to update this release, which speaks as of the date issued.

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