Workers' Compensation Law

Title	Views
1	LexisNexis Top 25 Blogs for Workers' Compensation and Workplace Issues - 2009 Honorees	18783
2	Delaware Detour and Frolic	17314
3	Larson’s National Workers' Comp Advisory Board Members	14811

Title	Downl.
1	FREE DOWNLOAD: Employer's Improper Communication With Physician (Calif. WCAB panel)	321
2	FREE DOWNLOAD: Cortez v. Fru-Con (Calif. WCAB panel) (Ogilvie analysis)	179
3	FREE DOWNLOAD: Dismissal of Claim Based on Carve-Out Agreement (Calif. WCAB panel)	145

Comfortably Numb: The Impact of Prescription Pain Medications on the Proper Determination of Permanent Disability

It may be an unfortunate reality but narcotics are a common aspect of medical treatment within the workers’ compensation system. As pain is an extremely individual experience, it is difficult if not impossible to assess whether the medications prescribed...

Published Thu, Jan 19 2012 12:28 AM by Calif. WCAB Noteworthy Panel Decisions Reporter

Filed under: Workers compensation, California, WCAB, prescription drugs, pain, permanent disability, narcotic drugs, OxyContin, pharmacology, Tentnowski v Perotti, zombie

Workers’ Compensation in a Medically Overtreated Society

Workers’ compensation is no stranger to controversy. In 2009 the well-respected physician Nortin M. Hadler, MD, attacked workers’ compensation as an “evil, wrong-minded, illness-inducing maze that masquerades as social insurance”...

Published Sat, Nov 12 2011 1:18 PM by Robin E. Kobayashi

Filed under: AMA Guides, Workers compensation, medical treatment, impairment, medical costs, Robin Kobayashi, Nortin M. Hadler, evidence-based medicine, medicalization, overtreatment, aging

Prescription Drug Abuse in America (Part One): The Problem

By Stuart Colburn, Esq., Downs Stanford, P.C. A November 2011 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report describes prescription painkiller abuse as “a public health epidemic.” The CDC concludes that “improving the way prescription...

Published Tue, Nov 8 2011 11:34 AM by Stuart D. Colburn

Filed under: Workers compensation, prescription drugs, opioid prescriptions, pharm parties, OxyContin, CDC, painkillers, hydrocodone, oxycodone, morphine, methadone, military, drug diversion, White House

Texas Appeals Panel Decision No. 100146 – Extent of Injury

By Stuart D. Colburn, Shareholder, Downs Stanford In Appeals Panel Decision 100146, t he issue reported out of the Benefit Review Conference is whether or not the compensable injury extended to and included “depressive reaction with anxiety (anxiety...

Published Mon, Sep 13 2010 8:24 AM by Stuart D. Colburn

Filed under: Workers compensation, compensable injury, Stuart Colburn, extent of injury, anxiety, depressive reaction, mental disease, depression

Texas: Maximum Medical Improvement/Impairment Rating Appeals Decision No. 100152

The Designated Doctor evaluated the injured worker and determined she was not at maximum medical improvement because she was considering surgery. The Claimant did not have surgery. Subsequently, DWC sent a letter of clarification to the Designated Doctor...

Published Tue, Aug 10 2010 10:30 AM by Stuart D. Colburn

Filed under: Workers compensation, Texas, Designated Doctor, impairment rating, maximum medical improvement

Impairment Guides Resource Center (updated 2/21/2012)

Welcome! We've designed this resource center to help you locate Impairment Guides-related materials, here on the LexisNexis Workers' Compensation Law Community, the Internet, and lexis.com. Please be sure to check back often for new updates to...

Published Sat, Apr 3 2010 11:05 PM by Impairment Guides Resource Center

Filed under: AMA Guides, Workers compensation, Permanent Impairment, impairment guides resource center

Employee Misclassification Tops Enforcement List in 2010

In 2010, employers can expect an unprecedented increase in enforcement efforts targeting employees misclassified as Form 1099 independent contractors. Attention to this issue has been growing in recent years. However, with state and federal budget deficits...

Published Sat, Mar 27 2010 10:25 AM by David Tonini

Filed under: Fraud, Workers compensation, trends & Developments, misclassification

The Impact of Obesity on the Resolution of Workers’ Compensation Claims

Obesity is a national problem. This is not new news. Every day we are inundated with information about the obesity epidemic. Simply search the word on the Internet and you find over twenty-three million possible sites with information regarding obesity...

Published Sat, Mar 27 2010 10:17 AM by Maureen Kohl Bennington, MS, CCM, CDMS, CPUR, CRC

Filed under: Workers compensation, trends & Developments, obesity

Workers' Comp Fraud Blotter 3/25/2010 - Recent Arrests, Charges, Convictions and Investigations

Each week we'll be surveying what the media, state agencies, insurance companies, and others report in terms of workers' comp fraud. Just like a police blotter, our workers' comp fraud blotter lists recent arrests, charges, convictions and...

Published Thu, Mar 25 2010 10:53 PM by LexisNexis Workers' Comp Fraud Team

Filed under: Fraud, Workers compensation

RICO Relief Denied: Are Employers at a Tipping Point for Brown v. Cassens-Type Lawsuits?

Most large employers are well aware of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent denial of a petition that it rehear the 6th Circuit Court's ruling allowing the plaintiffs in Brown v. Cassens Transport Company to proceed with a workers' compensation...

Published Tue, Mar 23 2010 3:00 PM by Sedgwick Claims Management Services, Inc.

Filed under: Workers compensation, disability, exclusive remedy, Cassens Transport, Supreme Court, treble damages, RICO, Sedgwick CMS, no fault

Importance of Engaging in Interactive Process Emphasized by Recent Trial Court Verdicts

A recent $1.5 million jury verdict in a Northern California Federal Court, applying the California Fair Employment and Housing Act to a Tennessee Corporation doing business in California, found that the Defendant retailer had failed to engage in the interactive...

Published Sun, Mar 21 2010 1:44 PM by Goldman, Magdalin & Krikes, LLP

Filed under: Workers compensation, California, disability, Goldman Magdalin, accommodation, FEHA, work restrictions, Fair Employment and Housing Act, interactive process

Brucellosis Contracted at Slaughter House Was Injury, Not Occupational Disease

Burress worked at IBP's meat-packing plant from 1987 until 1997. His first few years of work involved significant contact with hogs and hog blood and on at least one occasion during that early time frame, he cut a finger while working with the hogs...

Published Sun, Mar 14 2010 5:14 PM by Thomas A. Robinson

Filed under: Workers compensation, Thomas Robinson, statute of limitations, slaughter house, brucellosis, occupational disease, Iowa, hogs, meat-packing plant, osteomyelitis

First Appellate Merits Decision on PPO Discounts in Louisiana Workers' Compensation Setting

The Louisiana Court of Appeal, Third Circuit, issued the first decision from a trial on the merits where the defense centered on a preferred provider organization contract that was allegedly utilized to reduce the amounts owed to a provider under the...

Published Wed, Mar 10 2010 10:34 AM by bray@cp-tel.net

Filed under: Workers compensation, Louisiana, Bray Williams, preferred provider organization, Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Fee Reimbursement Schedule, PPO, reimbursement schedule

H.R. 4796 - Medicare Secondary Payer Enhancement Act of 2010 Introduced

We have taken our first step toward changing the Medicare Secondary Payer law. Representatives Patrick Murphy and Tim Murphy - both of Pennsylvania are our champions. They recognize the importance of making prompt payment of settlement benefits to the...

Published Wed, Mar 10 2010 5:39 PM by Roy A. Franco

Filed under: Workers compensation, Roy Franco, Medicare, Medicare Advocacy Recovery Coalition, secondary payer, settlement benefits

Cal. Comp. Cases March Advanced Postings 3/9/2010

Here's the second batch of advanced postings for the March 2010 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com subscribers can link to the cases to read the full summaries. City of Los Angeles, PSI, administered by Tristar Risk Management, Petitioner v. Workers'...

Published Tue, Mar 9 2010 8:38 PM by California Compensation Cases Staff

Filed under: Workers compensation, California, cases