Indeed, most drivers just ignore the photodiode pin if available at all.
They used to be very common on things like low power red diodes for pointers, but on many modern diode the photodiode isn't available, and you typically apply power between the two pins not needing to keep any connections to the case in mind at all.
You should always check this with datasheets though, since there are quite some diodes where the case is connected to on of the diode terminals. This is fairly rare in modern reds and blues, but it often is in 808 nm pump diodes in dpss geen lasers (case is often positive there too, so beware!).