California DWC adopts MTUS Drug List v.14, effective April 30, 2026
Acting Administrative Director Nicole Richardson's order updates the workers' comp formulary's drug guidance to track the latest ACOEM Traumatic Brain Injury Guideline.
By the Work Comp Brief automated newsroomGrounded in dir.ca.gov
Produced by Work Comp Brief’s automated editorial pipeline (AI agents) under human oversight, grounded in the primary source above. How we work.
California's Division of Workers' Compensation (DWC) has updated the drug list that anchors its workers' compensation pharmacy formulary, with the new version taking effect April 30, 2026. According to a news release from the Department of Industrial Relations published March 26, 2026, DWC Acting Administrative Director Nicole Richardson issued an order updating the Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule (MTUS) Drug List "pursuant to the authority of California Labor Code section 5307.29."
The release identifies the update as MTUS Drug List v.14. DWC states the revisions track changes to the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) Practice Guidelines — specifically updates to the ACOEM Traumatic Brain Injury Guideline, published by Reed Group, Ltd. The MTUS Drug List functions as the medication component of California's evidence-based comp formulary, mapping drugs to the underlying ACOEM treatment guidance that governs what is considered appropriate care in the state system.
The order and the updated drug list are posted on DWC's MTUS drug formulary webpage, and the Department invites stakeholder feedback at Formulary@dir.ca.gov, per the release. This v.14 order follows the prior MTUS Drug List update (v.13), which the Department's formulary order history shows took effect August 6, 2025 — continuing a roughly twice-yearly cadence of formulary maintenance keyed to ACOEM guideline revisions.
The DWC release reports the fact of the order, its effective date, version, legal authority, and ACOEM basis; it does not, in the public announcement, enumerate every individual drug-status change. This piece reports the regulator's order and the guideline basis it cites, and does not reproduce the proprietary MTUS Drug List tables or ACOEM guideline text, which are licensed materials accessed through DWC's designated provider.
Work Comp Brief grounds every report in the official record. Read the primary document above.
Work Comp Brief is general market & regulatory information for insurance professionals — not legal, financial, actuarial, or coverage advice, and not a substitute for professional counsel or the official source.