Senator Patrick Leahy Calls For Greater Transparency by Asbestos Companies

Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy Ranking Member, Judiciary Committee Hearing on “The Need for Transparency in the Asbestos Trusts”

Today the Judiciary Committee meets to discuss legislation that purports to promote more transparency in asbestos trusts.  Before we get into a detailed discussion about the merits of the proposed legislation, I want to make sure we all remember why we are here today.  For decades, millions of American workers were secretly poisoned.  Men and women who worked in our Nation’s factories, shipyards, mines and construction sites, and service members in the military, unknowingly inhaled air that was laced with asbestos—a substance so harmful that an individual can become critically ill simply by breathing.

Are Your Medical Records Vulnerable To Theft?

Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from www.kaiserhealthnews.org

This KHN story also ran in . It can be republished for free. (details) A decade ago almost all doctors kept paper charts on every patient. That is changing quickly as laptops become as common as stethoscopes in exam rooms. Recent hacking attacks have raised questions about how safe that data may be.  Here are some frequently asked questions about this evolution underway in American medicine and the government programs sparking the change. Are my medical records stored electronically? At least some of the information you share with your doctor or any hospital or clinic where you’ve been treated is probably stored on a computer. It's pretty common for most hospitals, clinics and doctors’ offices to digitally store your basic information including your name, address and insurance company, the same way many retailers do. It's also likely that at least some information about your specific medical conditions is linked to that data. Health care providers have been using computers to help them get paid for decades. That means many computer-generated bills sent to you and/or your insurance company contain medical details like the conditions you were treated for, prescriptions and referrals to specialists. Where things are really changing quickly is in the use of electronic records for day-to-day patient care. Until recently, most doctors used paper charts to record information generated during patient visits. But the 2009 economic stimulus package offered doctors and...

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1 month left for 9/11 responders to apply for workers’ comp

First responders and volunteers who helped with 9/11 recovery efforts have only a month left to register for future workers’ compensation benefits in case they fall ill. More than 20,000 people could be eligible, but they must register before Sept. 12. The registration effort is part of the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board’s “Tell Us You Were There” campaign, designed to protect those who helped after the World Trade Center attacks. “Most people are eligible. You should file a WTC-12 form whether you were injured or not and whether you were employed or volunteered,” the board said. “This preserves your right to future benefits, should you ever need them.” Previous legislation guaranteeing the workers’ comp expired Sept. 13, 2010. But last year, Gov. Cuomo signed legislation that extended the deadline and expanded the list of covered illnesses. Now WTC workers or volunteers can get benefits if they develop psychological ailments or illnesses of the upper or lower respiratory or gastroesophageal tracts. The WTC-12 registration form is available at www.wcb.ny.gov/WTC12. Anyone with questions can call (855) WTC-2014. In addition to Ground Zero, qualified applicants can have worked at the Fresh Kills Landfill, on barges or piers or at morgue sites — as long as it was before Sept. 12, 2002. So far, 40,737 people have filled out the form, said Joe Cavalcante, a compensation-board spokesman. There have been 5,165...

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson-Reuters). 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.

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Mechanic can sue Ford for further damages in asbestos case

The state Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed a former Bay Area service station owner to seek additional damages from Ford Motor Co. for exposing him to brake-lining asbestos that has afflicted him with terminal cancer. A jury awarded Patrick Scott $1.5 million in damages and legal costs against Ford in November 2012. Wednesday's order allows him to ask another jury for punitive damages. Scott and his wife, Sharon, have settled claims against other automakers for undisclosed amounts. Scott worked in a Navy shipyard, where he was also exposed to asbestos, before opening his first service station in Sausalito in 1965. He leased an Atlantic Richfield station in San Francisco in 1970, then moved his business to a Beacon station in St. Helena in 1977. He stopped working in 2011 after being diagnosed with mesothelioma, an incurable form of lung cancer that is caused by asbestos but typically does not show up until decades after exposure. Asbestos has long been used in the linings of motor vehicle brakes and clutches and is still used in brake pads, though it is banned in some other products. Scientists had established its connection to cancer by the mid-1950s, but the federal government did not regulate workplace asbestos exposure until 1971. According to court records, Ford mentioned asbestos in one of its publications in 1975 but did not put warnings on brake cartons until at least 1980. A Ford internal investigation cited by Scott's lawyers found mesothelioma among company...

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Guangzhou court rejects shipyard workers’ occupational disease lawsuit

A Guangzhou court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by 34 shipyard workers who claimed their employer, CSSC Guangzhou Longxue Shipbuilding Co. Ltd, had colluded with its affiliated hospital to conceal the results of health checks which should have revealed the early stages of the deadly lung disease pneumoconiosis. The Liwan District Court ruled that the workers did not prove they’d had their medical checks done at the Guangzhou Shipbuilding Factory Hospital between 2009 and 2011, and said that their current medical condition had nothing to do with the medical test results in the past. Some of the workers (left) described the verdict as “total bullshit” and said they would meet their lawyers to discuss an appeal. The case originated in November 2012, when one worker left the company and did his final medical check-up at the Guangzhou Shipbuilding Factory Hospital. The results showed no abnormalities on his lungs but just seven days later when he went to a local hospital that specialized in occupational disease, he was promptly diagnosed with pneumoconiosis. When news of the worker’s test results started to spread, many of his co-workers followed suit and got tested independently. Eventually, 23 workers were diagnosed with suspected pneumoconiosis. Most of the workers were welders who had worked for many years in cramped, dust-filled ship compartments. The appalling working conditions were revealed on a Guangzhou television news program last year, which...

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Substantial Credible Evidence Remains the Rule

Despite the informality of  a workers compensation hearing, the evidence relied upon by the hearing official must be substantially credible in order to meet the burden of proof to assess disability. When the claimant has had a history of a multitude of back injuries, sorting out the claims maybe a complicated and difficult process. The compensation judge is compelled to ascertain which accident  is the ultimate triggering incident that resulted in permanent disability. 

The last back claim of a worker did not meet the evidential standards to sustain a claim for disability when the diagnostic tests, as interpreted by the treating physician, did not support the evidential requirements to establish the assessment of permanent disability. 

A worker in New Jersey, who has a long history of back injuries, both at work and at home, was unable to meet the evidential requirements to to establish a case for increased disability. An MRI, interpreted by the treating physician, demonstrated no change in the injured workers medical condition following the last incident at work.

Accordingly, The NJ Appellate Division sustained the ruling by the compensation judge, who had held that proofs offered at trial were insufficient to meet the requirement of the statutory credible evidence standard. The trial judge was held to have correctly relied upon the treating physician’s diagnostic MRI taken subsequent to the last accident to rule out the final incident as the triggering episode that generated the claimant’s disability. 

Beausejour v Chamberlin Plumbing & Heating, Inc.,  2014 WL 300929 (N.J. Super. A.D.), Jan. 29, 2014

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How the West Virginia Spill Exposes Our Lax Chemical Laws

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

Site of the spill on the Elk River in West VirginiaFoo Connor/Flickr The West Virginia chemical spill that left some 300,000 people without access to water has exposed a gaping hole in the country's chemical regulatory system, according to environmental experts. Much the state remains under a drinking-water advisory after the spill last week into the Elk River near a water treatment facility. As much as 7,500 gallons of the chemical 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, which is used in the washing of coal, leaked from a tank owned by a company called Freedom Industries. A rush on bottled water ensued, leading to empty store shelves and emergency water delivery operations. According to news reports, 10 people were hospitalized following the leak, but none in serious condition. The spill and ensuing drinking water shortage have drawn attention to a very lax system governing the use of chemicals, according to Richard Denison, a senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund who specializes in chemical regulation. "Here we have a situation where we suddenly have a spill of a chemical, and little or no information is available on that chemical," says Denison. West Virginia store shelf. The problem is not necessarily that 4-methylcyclohexane methanol, or MCHM, is highly toxic. Rather, Denison says, the problem is that not a great deal about its toxicity is known. Denison has managed to track down a description of one 1990 study, conducted by manufacturer Eastman Chemical,...

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What Do We Know About the Chemical That Just Spilled in West Virginia?

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

The chemical that leaked yesterday into a West Virginia river "hasn't been studied very well," says Deborah Blum, a New York Times science columnist who specializes in reporting on chemistry. A state of emergency was declared for nine West Virginia counties yesterday after a chemical called 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol spilled into the Elk River. The chemical is "used to wash coal of impurities," according to the Times. The chemical leaked from a holding tank owned by a company called Freedom Industries, according to West Virginia American Water, a water company operating in the region. At present, the nine counties are under a "do not use" advisory from West Virginia American Water, and residents there do not know when they will be able to turn on their taps. A rush on bottled water subsequently ensued, as documented in this tweet from a local news anchor: Undoubtedly much more information will emerge on 4-Methylcyclohexane Methanol and how dangerous it is (or isn't) in water. But to start things off we turned to Blum, who was just a guest on our Inquiring Minds podcast. "We know methanol is toxic, we know that methylcyclohexane is moderately toxic, but I haven't seen a full analysis of the entire formula," says Blum....

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NFL concussion payout formula would provide up to $5 million per retired player

Today's post is shared from nola.com Lawyers representing former NFL players in the proposed $765 million settlement of thousands of concussion-related claims detailed Monday how the money would be divided. The awards could reach $5 million for athletes with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease; $4 million for a death involving brain trauma; and $3 million for dementia cases. Under the payout formula, those maximum awards would go to players under 45, who would likely need more lifetime care. For a man in his early 60s, the awards top out at $3 million for ALS and $950,000 for Alzheimer's disease. An 80-year-old with early dementia would get $25,000. Individual awards would also reflect how long the player spent in the NFL, unrelated medical issues and other factors. For instance, the award could be reduced significantly if someone had injuries from an unrelated stroke or car accident. Men without any neurological problems would get baseline testing, and could seek compensation if test reveal any problems. "This is an extraordinary settlement for retired NFL players and their families -- from those who suffer with severe neurocognitive illnesses today, to those who are currently healthy but fear they may develop symptoms decades into the future," lead players' lawyers...

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Tips To Protect Workers In Cold Environments

Today's post was shared by US Dept. of Labor and comes from www.osha.gov

Prolonged exposure to freezing or cold temperatures may cause serious health problems such as trench foot, frostbite and hypothermia. In extreme cases, including cold water immersion, exposure can lead to death. Danger signs include uncontrolled shivering, slurred speech, clumsy movements, fatigue and confused behavior. If these signs are observed, call for emergency help. OSHA's Cold Stress Card provides a reference guide and recommendations to combat and prevent many illnesses and injuries. Available in English and Spanish, this laminated fold-up card is free to employers, workers and the public. Tips include: How to Protect Workers Recognize the environmental and workplace conditions that may be dangerous. Learn the signs and symptoms of cold-induced illnesses and injuries and what to do to help workers. Train workers about cold-induced illnesses and injuries. Encourage workers to wear proper clothing for cold, wet and windy conditions, including layers that can be adjusted to changing conditions. Be sure workers in extreme conditions take a frequent short break in warm dry shelters to allow their bodies to warm up. Try to schedule work for the warmest part of the day. Avoid exhaustion or fatigue because energy is needed to keep muscles warm. Use the buddy system - work in pairs so that one worker can recognize danger signs. Drink warm, sweet beverages (sugar...

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