CompPharma Releases Latest Workers Comp Prescription Drug Management Study . OSHA Moves a Step Closer to Finalizing New Electronic Recordkeeping Rule . Study Finds Long Term Opioid Use Less Effective for 4 out of 5 Women . AZ: NCCI Explains 2.2% Decrease in Loss Cost Filing . CA: Governor...
In my capacity as your (hopefully) favorite local legal pundit, I am always looking for the unexpected, the clever, the savvy and the edgy. And perhaps the following case represents something savvy defense counsel have been doing in their own practices for years, but today’s case struck me as the...
Senator Sanders, Dem Lawmakers Warn Labor Secretary Perez About Opt Outs . CEPR Examines Cuts in Workers Comp and Rising SSDI Payments . NCCI Announces New President and CEO William E. Donnell . Obama Announces Guidelines for Addressing Prescription Drug Abuse, Heroin Use . CDC Drafts Guideline...
Today’s selection is from Don Marston of Doroshow Pasquale et al. Here is what Don has to say: Here is what I believe to be the latest entry in the battle of low back perm vs. lower extremity perm. There are a couple of interesting aspects to this case. There was no offer because the carrier...
Latest Map of Uninsured in America Shows Lack of Health Insurance in the South . Survey of Occupational Injuries, Illnesses Shows Nearly 3 Million Workplace Injuries in 2014 . EEOC Proposes Allowing Genetic Information for Voluntary Workplace Wellness Programs . Congressional Blog Warns of Injured...
So this post is an unabashedly shameful effort to highlight Matt Fogg’s daughters in their Halloween costumes. I give you Katelyn and Madesyn Fogg. Yes, they are as cute as the dickens, but I understand Matt also has a couple of really special cats and I would welcome the chance to feature them...
Folks, this is what many of you have been waiting for. The latest word from the Supremes on whether describing the nature of injury on an Agreement as to Compensation tendered by the Employer to include the word “resolved” precludes a future claim for permanent impairment….and by extension...
Substantial evidence supported a finding by the Industrial Accident Board that a worker and his employer had settled the worker’s back injury claim where an examining physician (hired by the defense) wrote a report saying that as of the date of examination “any low back injury causally related...
A.M. Best: U.S. Workers Comp Performance Improves Despite Rate Softening . Travelers, Hartford, AIG Rank as Top Three Workers Comp Insurers in 2014 . Shifting Trends of Prescription Opioids and Heroin Abuse in the US . AK: WCB Approves Changes to Workers Comp Fee Schedule . CA: Federal Judge...
WCRI: Medical Prices Lower, Grew Slower in States With Medical Fee Schedules . OSHA Seeks Public Comment on Safety & Health Program Management Guidelines . US Dept. of Labor Proposes Rule to Update Implementation of EEOICPA . Documentary Film Made of Temp Worker Killed in Tragic Accident...
Coming to me by way of claimant attorney Rich Wilson, I give you Mary Matharu v. Little Sisters of The Poor , IAB#1424369 (11/18/15) , which is an ode to the displaced worker doctrine and the Board’s most recent commentary on what it takes to be a displaced worker in the vein of the Watson case...
NCCI Analyzes State Differences in Diagnosis, Treatment of Joint Injuries . Businesses Consider Purchase of Active Shooter Insurance . Study Finds News Media Focuses on Criminal, Not Preventative Aspects of Opioid Abuse . CA: DWC Posts Changes to OMFS (Physician Services/Non-Physician Practitioner...
This comes to us by way of Susan Ament of Morris James. Not like Susan to toot her own horn and in fact, this was sent to me by her paralegal. And when you are married to my brother, you get what I like to call “blog preference.” But I have to agree with those who forwarded this that there...
This post is dedicated to one of my all-time favorite Board members, who recently returned from the Delaware Industrial Accident Board, Dr. Otto Medinilla. I believe Dr. Medinilla has the distinction of being the only physician ever to serve the IAB and he will be sorely missed. In any event, this case...
It is very fitting to feature a case involving UPS this time of year. I stumbled upon Paul Schneider v United Parcel Service , IAB#1283119 (12/1/15) and what makes this case a bit of a “re-gifting” is that it contains what most would think is a well-known and well established proposition...
The Randy J. Holland Workers’ Compensation Inn of Court is an innovator, a trailblazer, and an otherwise rollicking good time. One of only 5 Inns in the United States to receive Platinum status in its first year of operation, this Inn goes where no one has dared to go before. And that includes...
Today’s post comes to us by way of Fred Freibott and curiously, this case was already pulled to be featured on the blog, actually one of two cases on a related subject. As a legal pundit of sorts, I think of it as part of my role to identify “trending” topics at the IAB. And while I...
Harken back to my post of 4/14/15- “Section 2353 Extravaganza….” . That was the Roger Johnson v. R.C. Fabricators case which dealt with a Section 2353(b) forfeiture defense by virtue of intoxication, involving an injured worker with a fondness for both cannabis and cocaine. Surely...
ProPublica Examines Power, Wealth of Middlemen at Workers Comp Conferences . CDC Reports Increase in Drug, Opioid Overdose Deaths in U.S. 2000-2014 . CDC Opens Comment Period for Proposed 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain . NIOSH Examines Troubling Statistics on Opioid...
Big doings in Slower Lower……which is what we Northerners affectionately call our lower two counties, also sometimes known as “below the canal.” The current Kent/Sussex County downstate Industrial Accident Board location in Milford is closing and downstate cases will now be heard...
NCCI Establishes Baseline for Monitoring Impact of ACA on Workers Comp . Recent Ruling Could Give OSHA Wider Authority for Issuing Enterprise Abatement Orders . AZ: ICA Posts RFQ for Qualified Vendor List for Investment Management Consulting Services . CA: DWC Ended Lien Activation Fee Collection...
Today I bring you what Walt Schmittinger affectionately calls “Act 2 of what I presume will be a 3 Act play.” It is the appeal decision in the Guardado case that we have all been waiting for. For the back story, check my blog entry of 4/10/15 titled “Everybody Loves Pedro….”...
Lyft Settles Calif. Lawsuit for $12.5M, Drivers Still Not Classified as Employees . Price Wars Between Insurers and Drug Companies Impact Patients’ Healthcare . AMA Recommends Changes to CDC’s Proposed Opioid Prescription Policy . AK: WCD Posts Filing Requirements for Annual Reports...
Evidence supported the Board’s finding that an employee was a displaced worker where, following surgery on her left wrist, the worker had been released to light-duty, one-handed work but, because of limited education, inability to speak English and a limited employment-life, she could not find...
NCCI Posts 2015 State of the Line Reference Guide . OSHA Considering Panel’s Recommendations for New Safety Guidelines . Lockton Releases White Paper on Opioid Epidemic and Chronic Pain . Senate Poised to Pass Bill to Reduce Opioid Abuse . CA: DWC Posts Ethics Advisory Committee Annual...