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(c) 2010-2024 Jon L Gelman, All Rights Reserved.

Monday, June 30, 2014

Medicare Takes Bigger Bite Out California Workers Compensation

Medicare has doubled its reimbursement recover from California  workers' compensation claims in a single year according to a report released today. The 100% increase in California from $3Million (2012) to $6Million (2013) illustrates the determinate of CMS (The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services)  to end cost-shifting through strict enforcement of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSP).

Since July 23, 2001(The date the Patel Memo was issued) a dramatic increase in the elimination of the Federal "subsidy" of future medical care for compensable work-related conditions has also been reported. In California a 40% increase has been also reported in the last year from $92Million to $129Millon for Medicare Set Aside Agreements.

Click here to read the entire report.

….

Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Related articles

Where is the quality control in the first place?

Transportation accident make up a major portion of work-related accident. General Motors has announced today additional recalls of 8.4 million vehicles simultaneously with the announcement that payments will be made if fatal claims for ignition defect claims. One wonders how millions of vehicles can go rolling off assemby-lines without quality control. Today's post is shared fro nytimes.com

In a vast expansion of its safety crisis, General Motors recalled more than 8.4 million vehicles worldwide on Monday, bringing its total figures for the year above 28 million cars — more than the 22 million recalled last year by all of the automakers combined.

Among the recalled vehicles, G.M. said it was aware of seven crashes, eight injuries and three fatalities. About 8.2 million of the newly recalled cars have ignition defects that lead to inadvertent key rotation, and are models of the Cadillac CTS and SRX, and the Chevrolet Malibu, Monte Carlo and Impala, as well as the Oldsmobile Intrigue and Alero, and Pontiac Grand Am and Grand Prix. The model years range from 1997 to 2014.

Almost all of G.M.'s recalls have come since the automaker in February began recalling 2.6 million older Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars with a defective ignition switch that it has tied to at least 13 deaths and 54 crashes. Earlier Monday, Kenneth R. Feinberg, who was retained by G.M. to develop a victim compensation program, announced the provisions to deal with claims of injury and...


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Obesity Prevalence by Occupation in Washington State

Today's post comes from guest author Kit Case, from Causey Law Firm.

Truckers, movers, and police and firefighters are likeliest to be obese. Doctors, scientists and teachers are the healthiest.
Those are the results of a first-of-its-type study the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries sponsored connecting what you do for work with obesity. The study also examined the percentage of workers in specific occupations who smoke, have adequate fruit and vegetable servings, participate in leisure time exercise and report high physical demands of their job.
“This is the first state-level study using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to estimate occupation-specific obesity." 
“The objective of the research was to identify occupations in need of workplace obesity prevention programs,” said Dr. David K. Bonauto, associate medical director for L&I’s research division. “Employers, policy makers and health practitioners can use our results to target and prioritize prevention and health behavior promotions.”
The study, “Obesity Prevalence by Occupation in Washington State, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System,” was published earlier this year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study was based on more than 88,000 participants the CDC contacted in the state in odd years from 2003-2009. It found that nearly 1-in-4 workers statewide were obese.
“We know obesity poses a threat to public health,” Dr. Bonauto said. “This is the first state-level study using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to estimate occupation-specific obesity. All states within the U.S. could have this data if questions about occupation and industry were added to many state and national health surveys.”
Truck drivers were the most obese, nearly 39 percent. The proportion of current smokers was highest also for truck drivers, who – with computer scientists and mechanics – had the lowest proportion of adequate servings of fruits and vegetables. “Truckers are likely influenced by the availability of food choices, such as fast food and convenience stores,” Dr. Bonauto noted.
The study has its limitations. Because researchers used self-reported height and weight, there might be an underestimate of obesity. Also, the body mass index results don’t distinguish between fat and muscle mass. Police and firefighters, for instance, had a high prevalence of obesity but also had the highest proportion of vigorous leisure time physical activity.
Those with less education and an income less than $35,000 had a significantly higher likelihood of being obese, according to the study. Workers who had regular servings of fruits and vegetables and adequate physical exercise were less likely to be obese.
 Photo credit: kennethkonica / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic (CC BY-ND 2.0)

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Rick Perry, Texas and A Record of High Worker Fatalities and of Weak Benefits

Rick Perry presidential campaign, 2012
Rick Perry presidential campaign, 2012 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Texas does not mandate workers' compensation coverage and injured workers. The difficulties with such a program are highlighted in a report shared from the NYTimes.com If Rick Perry runs for President in 2016 the system maybe promoted for national adoption.

Almost anywhere in the vast Lone Star State, one can find evidence of the “Texas miracle” economy that policy makers like Gov. Rick Perry have talked about in their political speeches.

The hot economy, they say, is the result of their zealous opposition to over-regulation, greedy trial lawyers and profligate government spending.

But state leaders have rarely mentioned the grim side of the workplace: Texas has led the nation in worker fatalities for seven of the last 10 years, and when Texans get hurt or killed on the job, they have some of the weakest protections and hardest-to-obtain benefits in the country.

Texas is the only state that does not require private employers to carry workers’ compensation insurance or a private equivalent, so more than 500,000 workers — about 6 percent of the work force — receive no occupational benefits if they are injured on the job. On-the-job injuries can leave them unable to work, and with little recourse.

More than a million Texans are covered by private occupational insurance from their employers. Those plans are not regulated by the state but are often written to sharply limit the benefits, legal rights and medical options of workers. Employers, however, say their workers often get quicker and better care under the private plans.

Most Texas workers, about 81 percent, are covered by a state-regulated compensation system, which provides injured workers with standard benefits, including partial...

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FDA approves device that helps people with certain spinal cord injuries to walk

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today allowed marketing of the first motorized device intended to act as an exoskeleton for people with lower body paralysis (paraplegia) due to a spinal cord injury. ReWalk is a motorized device worn over the legs and part of the upper body that helps an individual sit, stand, and walk with assistance from a trained companion, such as a spouse or home health aide.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there are about 200,000 people in the United States living with a spinal cord injury, many of whom have complete or partial paraplegia.

“Innovative devices such as ReWalk go a long way towards helping individuals with spinal cord injuries gain some mobility,” said Christy Foreman, director of the Office of Device Evaluation, at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “Along with physical therapy, training and assistance from a caregiver, these individuals may be able to use these devices to walk again in their homes and in their communities.”

ReWalk consists of a fitted, metal brace that supports the legs and part of the upper body; motors that supply movement at the hips, knees, and ankles; a tilt sensor; and a backpack that contains the computer and power supply. Crutches provide the user with additional stability when walking, standing, and rising up from a chair. Using a wireless remote control worn on the wrist, the user commands ReWalk to stand up, sit down or walk.

ReWalk is for people with paraplegia due to spinal cord injuries at levels T7 (seventh thoracic vertebra) to L5 (fifth lumbar vertebra) when accompanied by a specially trained caregiver. It is also for people with spinal cord injuries at levels T4 (fourth thoracic vertebra) to T6 (sixth thoracic vertebra) where the device is limited to use in rehabilitation institutions. The device is not intended for sports or climbing stairs.

Prior to being trained to use ReWalk, patients should be able to stand using an assistive standing device (e.g., standing frame), and their hands and shoulders should be able to support crutches or a walker. Patients should not use the device if they have a history of severe neurological injuries other than spinal cord injury, or have severe spasticity, significant contractures, unstable spine, unhealed limb fractures or pelvic fractures. Patients should also not use the device if they have severe concurrent medical diseases such as infection, circulatory conditions, heart or lung conditions, or pressure sores.

Patients and their caregivers must undergo training developed by the manufacturer to learn and demonstrate proper use of the device.

To assess safety and effectiveness of ReWalk, the FDA reviewed testing done to assess ReWalk’s durability, its hardware, software and battery systems, and other safety systems that help minimize risk of injury should the device lose balance or power.

The FDA also reviewed clinical data based on 30 study participants. The clinical tests assessed the participants’ ability to walk various distances, the amount of time needed to walk various distances, performance on various walking surfaces and slight slopes, and performance walking in areas where jostling might occur. Studies also assessed the risk of certain physical effects on the user. Additionally, observational data from 16 patients were also provided to support use of the device on various walking surfaces in the home and community with various levels of assistance from a trained companion. Risks associated with ReWalk include pressure sores, bruising or abrasions, falls and associated injuries, and diastolic hypertension during use.

The FDA reviewed the ReWalk through its de novo classification process, a regulatory pathway for novel, first-of-its-kind medical devices that are generally low-to moderate-risk. The FDA is requiring Argo Medical Technologies, Inc., the manufacturer of ReWalk, to complete a post-market clinical study that will consist of a registry to collect data on adverse events related to the use of the ReWalk device and prospectively and systematically assess the adequacy of its training program.

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Does font matter in workers' compensation court?

Curiously most workers' compensation court do not seem to set font or style requirements for pleadings. In some jurisdictions certain pleading may have rigid agency font requirements that automatically are imposed when the information is inputted into the computerized agency system. In other jurisdictions, and for general correspondence anything goes.

Does it make a difference is the question? Is is merely branding or is it a psychological tactic. Is recognition of the style so certain that hearing officials and other readers are conditioned to a certain response or argument by just glancing at the document? Many Federal courts level the playing field to universally mandated formats.

Ultimately it is recommended that your legal writing should look professional:

"The trick is to choose a font that looks clean and professional. It might not look the same as all those thousands of other court filings that the judges are expecting to look a certain way. But that’s probably not a bad thing. - See more at: http://blog.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/practice-of-law/legal-writing-font-matters/?cid=social_20140628_26504236#sthash.ulWNXwMb.dpuf

The Age-Old Question: Which Workers Have the Greatest Risk for Hand Injuries?

The aging workforce draws attention and concern for increased disability. actually the disability does not come from accidents or traumatic events, but rather from pre-existing disabilities. Those disabilities when compounded by work related accidents and exposures force the aging worker out of the workforce and onto a Federalized disability program, ie. Social Security/Medicare. Today's post was shared by Construction @ NIOSH and comes from zero-excuses-protection.com

When it comes to workplace safety and accident prevention, all workers are not created equally. In fact, some groups of employees—such as younger workers or older workers—are higher risks for certain types of injuries. Evaluating risks that exist for both of these groups and developing strategies to mitigate them are key steps for preventing injuries in the workplace.

YOUNGER WORKERS: GREATER RISK FOR NON-FATAL INJURIES

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) classifies young workers as “those new to the workforce, even up to the age 24.” Representing 14 percent of the workforce today, young workers are a great investment to your business; however, they face a higher risk for injuries while on the job than older, more experienced workers.

According to a 10-year study by CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), an estimated 7.9 million younger workers were treated for nonfatal injuries in U.S. hospital emergency rooms between 1998 and 2007. The nonfatal injury rate was 5 injuries per 100 full-time workers, making it twice as high as workers over the age of 25. Furthermore, workers between 18 and 19 years of age have the highest incidence of workplace injuries among younger workers.

There are a few reasons younger workers may see a higher incidence of workplace injuries. Of course, there’s the obvious: younger workers are less experienced than their older counterparts and have less job knowledge,...

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The Complexity of Medicare

While holding the for CMS (The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) the complexity of the reimbursement of the Medicare Secondary Payer Act was recognized by a Federal Court:

"In re Avandia Mktg., 685 F.3d 353, 365 (3d Cir.2012); The Fourth Circuit has described the Medicare statute as “among the most completely impenetrable texts within human experience.” Rehab. Ass'n v. Kozlowski, 42 F.3d 1444, 1450 (4th Cir.1994). Other courts of appeal, including the District of Columbia Circuit, have echoed this assessment. See Abraham Lincoln Mem. Hosp. v. Sebelius, 698 F.3d 536, 540–41 (7th east Hosp. Corp. v. Sebelius, 657 F.3d 1, 13 (D.C. Cir.2011); Alhambra Hosp. v. Thompson, 259 F.3d 1071, 1076 (9th Cir.2001). For a more literary-flavored spin, consider Judge Lamberth's recent characterization of the statute as akin to “a law written by James Joyce and edited by E.E. Cummings.” Catholic Health Initiatives–Iowa, Corp. v. Sebelius, 841 F.Supp.2d 270, 271 (D.D.C.2012), rev'd, 718 F.3d 914 (D.C. Cir.2013).

Allina Health System v. Kathleen Sebelius, 982 F.Supp.2d 1 (DCT DC 2013)

New York City to provide lawyers for poor immigrants facing deportation

While some states have established restrictive procedures against immigrants not in status with US immigration laws, New York City has taken an opposite stance. Today's post is shared from jurist.com

New York lawmakers have approved funding for a program to provide lawyers to indigent residents facing deportation hearings. The New York Immigrant Family Unity Project [Bronx Defenders backgrounder] was created last year but was only funded at $500,000. Wednesday's vote by the New York City Council expands funding to $4.9 million [press release] to greatly expand the program. While defendants in the criminal justice system have the right to an attorney, there is no such right for individuals facing a complicated immigration legal system. This is the first program of its kind in the US [AP report]. Also this week, the New York Council approved a measure to provide identification cards [press release] to all city residents, including those in the country illegally.

In the absence of federal immigration reform, state governments have continued to enact various measures. Last week a Montana judge struck down [JURIST report] most of a voter-approved immigration law that required government officials to check the immigration status of anyone applying for state services. Earlier this month Florida Governor Rick Scott signed a law [JURIST report] allowing undocumented students to receive in-state tuition, joining 16 other states already allowing this. In March South Carolina announced...

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Friday, June 27, 2014

One in 10 deaths among working-age adults due to excessive drinking


Shared from the cdc.com
Excessive alcohol use accounts for one in 10 deaths among working-age adults ages 20-64 years in the United States, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published today in Preventing Chronic Disease.
Excessive alcohol use led to approximately 88,000 deaths per year from 2006 to 2010, and shortened the lives of those who died by about 30 years.  These deaths were due to health effects from drinking too much over time, such as breast cancer, liver disease, and heart disease; and health effects from drinking too much in a short period of time, such as violence, alcohol poisoning, and motor vehicle crashes.  In total, there were 2.5 million years of potential life lost each year due to excessive alcohol use.
Nearly 70 percent of deaths due to excessive drinking involved working-age adults, and about 70 percent of the deaths involved males.  About 5 percent of the deaths involved people under age 21.  The highest death rate due to excessive drinking was in New Mexico (51 deaths per 100,000 population), and the lowest was in New Jersey (19.1 per 100,000).
“Excessive alcohol use is a leading cause of preventable death that kills many Americans in the prime of their lives,” said Ursula E. Bauer, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. “We need to redouble our efforts to implement scientifically...
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Facebook Required to Turn Over User Information in Disability-Fraud Investigation

Today's ppost was shared from http://online.wsj.com

The Manhattan district attorney has won a legal battle against Facebook Inc. with a New York judge's ruling that the social network was required to turn over user information in a fraud investigation.

When workers who filed for federal disability money were seen on Facebook looking perfectly healthy, the Manhattan district attorney received a search warrant from a judge to look more closely at the accounts.

Facebook had attempted to quash the warrants for 381 user accounts on grounds that they were unconstitutional and in violation of Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.

After reviewing the search-warrant application, the judge found "probable cause that evidence of criminality would be found within the subject Facebook accounts," and ordered Facebook to comply.

“Due to the fungible nature of digital information, the ability of a user to delete information instantly and other possible consequences of disclosure, the court ordered the search warrants sealed and Facebook not to disclose the search and seizure to its users.”—Melissa C. Jackson, New York State Supreme Court Justice

The district attorney's office said the case led to 134 indictments on more than $400 million in fraud, and that half the defendants have pleaded guilty.

"This was a massive scheme involving as many as 1,000 people who defrauded the federal government," said Joan Vollero, spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance. "The defendants in this case repeatedly lied to the government about their mental, physical, and social capabilities. Their Facebook accounts told a different story," she said.

The judge in the case said Facebook had no right to get in the way of the investigation.
"Facebook could best be...
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[Click here to VIEW the documents in this case (NYTime)]

Thursday, June 26, 2014

What Impact Will Hepatitis C Drugs Have on Medical Costs? Look Here

Drug prices are a major and unpredicable cost in calcularing workers' compensation exposure. Recent developments in hepatitis C treatment illustrate the issue. Today's post is shared from blogs.wsj.com
Just what impact will hepatitis C treatments have on medical spending over the next few years?
The answer to this question has been the subject of heated debate thanks to the Sovaldi treatment sold by Gilead Sciences . The medication can cure 90 percent of the patients who have the most common form of the affliction, and costs $1,000 a day for a 12-week course, or $84,000 for one patient.
Medications for other diseases may be more expensive, but insurers worry about the potential outlay, given that approximately 3.2 million people in the U.S. are chronically infected with hepatitis C, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Prevention and Control. Some estimates suggest the number is closer to 5 million. For months, state Medicaid programs and private payers have blanched at the cost.
Other drug makers hope to catch up to Gilead in the race to develop a still more effective and convenient treatment that works even faster. But it remains unclear to what extent a price war may ensue. Meanwhile, concerns mount these medicines will, collectively, become budget busters.
Of course, there is another way to view the issue, which is that the cost of treating patients who may otherwise need countless physician visits, hospital care and a liver transplant can run higher....
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Ikea Plans to Increase Minimum Hourly Pay

Today's post was shared by The New York Times and comes from www.nytimes.com

Ikea plans to adopt a wage structure that it says will raise the average hourly minimum wage at its 38 stores in the United States to $10.76 an hour — a 17 percent increase.
Ikea, which will be announcing its new wage policy on Thursday, said it would not impose an across-the-board minimum wage for its stores, but would instead set a minimum for each store based on the cost of living in that particular area.
For example, the minimum wage will run from a low of $8.69 an hour at its stores in Pittsburgh and West Chester, Ohio, to $13.22 an hour at its store in Woodbridge, Va.
Ikea said that its new average minimum wage, $10.76 an hour, was $3.51 above the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.
The retailer’s decision was made as many low-wage workers and labor unions are pushing for an increase in the federal minimum wage and after Gap Inc. informed its employees in February that it would set $9 as the minimum hourly rate for its United States work force this year and then establish a minimum of $10 next year.
Gap said its new policy would raise pay for more than two-thirds of its 90,000 American employees, including those at Banana Republic and Old Navy, while Ikea said its new policy would raise the pay of about half of its 13,120 United States employees.
“This stems back to Ikea’s decision to create a better everyday life for our people,” said Rob Olson, Ikea’s acting president for the United States and its chief financial officer.
...
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The War On Coal Miners: How Companies Hide The Threat Of Black Lung From Watchdogs And Workers

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.huffingtonpost.com

Whistleblower Justin Greenwell told regulators that his company, Armstrong Coal, was misreporting the dust levels in his mine, potentially putting miners in danger of black lung disease. (Photo: Dave Jamieson)

The dust was so thick that Justin Greenwell could barely see what was in front of him.

A 29-year-old miner, Greenwell had grown accustomed to working in the coal dust below ground in the Parkway Mine in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Yet the prevalence of the dust in the air bothered Greenwell more and more. He'd labored for seven years in the mines, and already he was experiencing shortness of breath when he worked on his farm on the weekends.

Prolonged exposure to coal dust leads to coal worker's pneumoconiosis, known colloquially as black lung. It's a miserable disease that forces miners to live out their last days coughing and gasping for air. To protect employees, mine operators are required by law to keep their coal dust levels in check. While inspectors do some of the monitoring, the operators themselves also collect samples and provide them to federal regulators to prove they're in compliance.

According to Greenwell, there was a simple reason the Parkway Mine managed to avoid fines despite all the dust: Its operator, Armstrong Coal, a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Armstrong Energy, was submitting misleading samples to regulators.

"It's been going on since I started there," Greenwell alleged in an interview. "All these guys in management, they know...

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FDA Issues Guidances for Industry on Social Media

Today's article shared from Thomas Abrams

Ongoing changes in technology transform medical products – and the ways that both patients and health care providers learn about those products. In today’s world, in addition to traditional sources of medical product information, patients and health care providers regularly get information about FDA-regulated medical products through social media and other Internet sources, and those technologies continue to evolve. But regardless of the Internet source used to communicate about medical products, the public health is best served by clear, accurate, truthful and non-misleading information about them.

That’s why the agency has proposed two draft guidances for industry with recommendations to help manufacturers and their representatives accurately communicate online about prescription drugs and medical devices.

These documents strive to ensure that the information provided by drug and device companies is accurate and will help patients to make well-informed decisions in consultation with their health care providers.

Our first guidance provides recommendations for the presentation of risk and benefit information for prescription drugs or medical devices using Internet/social media sources with character space limitations, such as Twitter and the paid search results links on Google and Yahoo. These recommendations address the presentation of both benefit information and risk information in this setting. We understand that...

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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

There Are 1,401 Uninspected High-Risk Oil and Gas Wells. Here's Where They Are.

Today's post was shared by Mother Jones and comes from www.motherjones.com

In May, the Government Accountability Office estimated that an even larger share of new wells on federal land—57 percent—were not inspected. While the revised 40 percent figure, which was first reported by the Associated Press, is lower, it's "still not a very good number," acknowledged BLM spokesperson Bev Winston.

Between 2009 and 2012, the BLM tagged 3,486 new oil and gas wells as "high-priority," meaning they are deserving of special scrutiny because of their proximity to ecologically sensitive areas like watersheds and forests, or because they tap into geologically volatile formations that increase the likelihood of an explosion or toxic gas leak. The data includes both conventional and unconventional wells and does not indicate how many of the wells were hydraulically fractured, or fracked.

"We're scattered, and you can't be everywhere at once," a top BLM official said.

According to the GAO report, the agency's own rules call for all high-priority wells on federal and Native American land to be inspected during the drilling stage. That's the only time when key facets of a well's construction—whether the well casing is properly sealed, or whether a blowout preventer is correctly installed, for example—can be adequately inspected. Once the well is drilled, retroactive inspection becomes difficult or impossible, according to a BLM engineer.

Because the window for drilling inspections at any given well opens and...
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N.F.L. Makes Open-Ended Commitment to Retirees in Concussion Suit

Barring professional athletes from claiming workers' compensation benefits did not stop the mass filing of civil action claims for intentional harm against the NFL Today's post is shatred from the nytimes.com

The N.F.L. has made an open-ended commitment to pay cash awards to retirees who suffer from dementia and other diseases linked to repeated head hits, according to documents filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on Wednesday.

The guarantee is part of a revised settlement in the contentious lawsuit filed by about 5,000 retired players who accused the league of hiding from them the dangers of concussions.

In August, the league agreed to pay $765 million to settle the suit with the retired players, with $680 million of that amount set aside for cash awards. But Judge Anita B. Brody rejected the proposal in January because she said she doubted whether there would be enough money to cover all the claims over the 65-year life of the settlement.

Lawyers for the league and the plaintiffs spent the past six months revising the settlement. If the judge approves the new version in the coming weeks, it will be sent to all 18,000 retired players and their beneficiaries, who can then approve the settlement, object or opt out of it. The results of that vote are unlikely to be known for at least several months, and no players will be paid until all appeals are exhausted.

The league’s new promise to compensate all qualified claims could convince retirees who said they would opt out of the original settlement because they felt the league could have set aside more money for players with serious neurological disorders.

“Today’s...
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The First Social Program Bankruptcy is Upon Us

The Hon. David Langham 
The network of social insurance programs is tightly integrated in the United States. The economic integrity of Social Security may have tremendous impact on workers' compensation programs. Today's guest post is by The Hon. David Langham who is the Deputy Chief Judge of Compensation Claims for the Florida Office of Judges of Compensation Claims and Division of Administrative Hearings flojcc.blogspot.com

In May, the Fiscal Times reported that Social Security Disability is in financial trouble. Hardly news, that has been heard for years and has been either ignored or given lip service. No real solutions have been brought to the table. Unfortunately, in America issues with disability programs like Social Security and workers' compensation tend to get attention when there is a crisis.

What is news is that the sky is perhaps falling more rapidly than they predicted. The Fiscal Times says that the SSDI cash flow will run dry in 2016. Their prediction leads to the conclusion that this is no longer a problem that can be kicked down the road to the next group of elected representatives. The insolvency will either be dealt with or the repercussions felt in the next Congress.

According to the Fiscal Times in May 2014, eleven million Americans are receiving Social Security Disability (SSDI). According to Census.gov the U.S. population is about 318 million, so about three percent of the population is receiving SSDI.

The average SSDI recipient is drawing...
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New York's Acupuncture Experiment

As a young lawyer I was in Compensation Court once when my father, a seasoned workers' compensation attorney, obtained an Order for his client to receive a course of treatment at the "Turkish Baths." Today's post was shared by WorkCompCentral and comes from daviddepaolo.blogspot.com

My dad was a pioneering dentist in California while I was growing up.

He was the first in the state to have any automation in his dental office, with a computer system that cost thousands of dollars more than the top of the line systems offered today, with about one-one hundredth of the computing power...

I recall when I was a young lawyer practicing work comp law and was confronted with the first of what became a short lived trend of temporomandibular joint disorder cases. I asked my dad about the "disease" because I had to depose a physician about it for the first time, and in typical Dad fashion, when I tried to get some meaningful insight into the theory of the disorder he just replied, "It's bulls*#t."

And that was it - no further explanation given by Dad. (And now those of you who know me can understand where my abbreviated sense of conclusory commentary comes from.)

He always sought to broaden the scope of his practice to make sure he could offer his patients as much service as possible.

Dad's practice was one of the first in the state to offer nitrous oxide for low grade anesthesia and his partner, my then brother-in-law, was the first in the state to be certified to dispense NO2 and taught and certified many dentists over the years.

In his pioneering spirit my dad also tried acupuncture for dental anesthesia. He spent months studying the Eastern medicine discipline, brought home all sorts of dolls with dots and lines signifying the path of chi and...

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Patient Injuries: Hospitals Most Likely To Be Penalized By Medicare

Compensability extends in most jurisdiction to injuries sustained in the course of medical treatment for work related injuries. Medicare through enforcement wants to reduce treatment injuries. Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from www.kaiserhealthnews.org

Medicare has identified 761 hospitals that are in line to be penalized for high rates of infections and complications this fall. Some of these hospitals may avoid the penalties in the fall after federal officials factor into their analysis an additional year of infections.

Below are the 175 hospitals that are most likely to be penalized because their preliminary scores are nine or above on a scale of 1 to 10. You can download the complete list of all hospitals here. You can also read the KHN story, KHN explanation of how the penalty program works, and look at the KHN analysis.

Source: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
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Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Stay Safe During Lightning

Protect yourself and your loved ones from lightning during a thunderstorm.

The weather forecast calls for a slight chance of thunderstorms, but you can only see a few fluffy white clouds overhead. So you and your tennis partner grab your racquets and balls and head for the tennis court. You spend a few minutes warming up and then—wait! Is that thunder you hear? Was that a lightning flash?

What do you do? Keep playing until the thunder and lightning get closer? Go sit on the metal bench under the trees to see what happens? Or get in your car and drive home?

Correct answer: If no substantial, non-concrete shelter is nearby, get in your car and wait out the storm.

Why? Because being outside when lightning is present is not something to take lightly—ever.
Risks of lightning strikes

Although the odds of being struck by lightning in a given year are only around 1 in 500,000, some factors can put you at greater risk. Lightning most often strikes people who work outside or engage in outdoor recreational activities. Regional and seasonal differences can also affect your risk of being injured by lightning.

Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas have the most lightning deaths and injuries [634 KB]. Florida is considered the "lightning capital" of the country, with more than 2,000 lightning injuries over the past 50 years.

The consequences of lightning strikes are serious....
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Warning Unheeded, Heart Drugs Are Recalled

More problems with generic drugs. Today's post was shared by The New York Times and comes from www.nytimes.com

For years, Dr. Harry Lever, a cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic, has been warning nearly anyone who would listen of his growing suspicions about generic versions of a widely used heart drug, Toprol XL.

Patient after patient, he said, would visit his office complaining of chest pains or other symptoms after switching from the brand-name version, made by AstraZeneca, to a generic product, often one made in India. When he switched them back to the brand — or to another generic — the symptoms disappeared, he said. Dr. Lever wrote a letter outlining his concerns to the Food and Drug Administration in 2012, and this year, he traveled to Washington to try to get the attention of Congress.

Dr. Lever could not prove that the generic drugs were to blame. “You see enough people and you get a feel, but it’s anecdotes,” he said in an interview Monday. “It’s not science.”

Now, Dr. Lever is feeling a sort of sad vindication. Two large Indian manufacturers, Wockhardt and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, have announced recalls over the last two months totaling more than 100,000 bottles because their products were not dissolving properly — therefore probably not working as they should. The drug is a beta blocker that treats high blood pressure and heart ailments.

The recalls are the latest in a string of recent problems involving generic drugs, especially those made in India. Wockhardt, for example, is now banned from exporting drugs to...
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Court of Compensation Does Not Have Jurisdiction for Restitution

A Court of Compensation is not the place for an insurance carrier to seek reimbursement from a responsible entity if it has paid a judgment in error. The NJ Court of Appeals, in affirming a trial decision, ruled that a workers' compensation carrier who erroneously appeared and had entered into a settlement of a workers' compensation claim could not, after payment of the award, could not modify the award to have its name removed as the responsible party.

"Travelers, however, did not present sufficient cause to reopen the settlement to change the identity of the settling entity. If Travelers is entitled to reimbursement for a settlement it mistakenly entered into, it must seek such reimbursement from the liable entity in another court. As Travelers acknowledges, petitioner is not at blame nor should petitioner be involved in litigation seeking to modify the settlement. Workers' Compensation Court is not the proper forum for litigation between two insurers after a judgment has been entered and payment of that judgment made to petitioner."

Not Reported in A.3d, 2014 WL 2807529 (N.J.Super.A.D.)

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