NJ Mandates Access to Periodic Cancer Screenings for Firefighters

NJ Governor Murphy signed legislation that mandates access to periodic cancer screening examinations for firefighters who are not enrolled in the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP), but who are eligible for enrollment in the SHBP by public employment.

Toxic Flight Attendant Uniforms Result in a $1.1 Million Verdict

Wearing an employer-designated work uniform shouldn’t result in severe and debilitating occupational exposures. Unfortunately, some American Airlines flight attendants suffered injuries from wearing the flight uniforms prescribed by their employer. The lawsuit that they filed lawsuit resulted in a $1.1 Million award.

Workers’ Compensation Benefits for Occupational Exposure to Cellphone Radiation

Last week, the French government requested that Apple stop selling the iPhone 12 model because of excessive radiation detected during recent tests. The Agence National des Fréquences [ANFR] stated that “…Apple must immediately take all measures to prevent the availability on the market of the phones concerned present in the supply chain. Regarding phones already sold, Apple must take corrective measures as soon as possible to make the phones concerned compliant. Otherwise, it will be up to Apple to recall them.”

Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Claims

Drinking water at Camp Lejune, North Carolina, was contaminated by toxic substances, and it is estimated that over one million military personnel, their families, and civilians who lived and worked near Camp Lejune training facility between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987, may have been exposed to hazardous substances.

Burn Pit Legislation Signed into Law

President Biden signed legislation that will provide medical benefits from the Veterans Administration to service members exposed to toxic burn pits while deployed overseas in recent conflicts. The President signed the Sargent First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act. It embodies some of the goals we strived to achieve in the decades-long burn pit litigation project.

EPA Proposes to Ban Ongoing Uses of Asbestos

In a historic step, the US Environmental Protection Administration [EPA] is moving to protect people from cancer risks and is moving to ban asbestos in the US. The EPA has proposed its first-ever risk management rule under the 2016 Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act.

California appeals court upholds verdict against Monsanto for Roundup exposure

The claims of occupational exposures of landscapers and groundskeepers to herbicides such as Roundup were received further support by a recent decision by the California Court of Appeals. The Court affirmed the verdict of the trial court upholding the finding causal relationship between the product and cancer.

VA To Expand Medical Care for Burn Pit Claims

The Secretary of the US Veterans Administration announced today a major policy change regarding burn pit exposures.

NJ Files Lawsuits Against Two Waterfront Sites for Contamination

As part of the State of New Jersey’s continuing commitment to protect public health and restore natural resources degraded by those who refuse accountability, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe today announced the filing of two lawsuits to compel the clean-up of contamination and recover Natural Resource Damages (NRDs).

PFAS Contamination Legislation Advances

Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) updated the public on legislation to address PFAS contamination and exposure. Last week, Pallone’s Energy and Commerce Committee passed comprehensive legislation to protect Americans from PFAS and clean up waste sites. The legislation is critical to stopping the flow of these harmful chemicals into our environment, drinking water, cooking products and more. It also ensures that polluters pay for the cleanup of these sites. According to a report, there are 517 water systems in New Jersey that are contaminated with PFAS.

Efforts to Protect the Public From Asbestos Exposure

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey today released a new report highlighting her office’s ongoing efforts to protect children, families, and workers from the health risks posed by exposure to asbestos.

Expert Physicians Urge US to Ban Asbestos

Today's post is shared from nejm.org

"Each year, nearly 40,000 Americans die often painful, protracted deaths from diseases caused by asbestos. These deaths occur in firefighters, police officers, construction workers, miners, military veterans, shipyard workers, and maintenance workers whose exposures to asbestos are primarily occupational. Death also occurs in partners and children of such workers, whose only exposures to asbestos were from dust on clothing brought home from work by a family member. In the United States, treatment of asbestos-related diseases — including malignant mesothelioma, asbestosis, lung cancer, laryngeal cancer, and ovarian cancer1 — costs hundreds of millions of dollars each year.

Firefighter and Public Safety Officer Presumption Bill Advances

Firefighter and public safety officer presumption bill advances and creates a rebuttable presumption of workers’ compensation coverage for public safety workers and other employees in certain circumstances. 

The bill affirms that if, in the course of employment, a public safety worker is exposed to a serious communicable disease or a biological warfare or epidemic-related pathogen or biological toxin, all care or treatment of the worker, including services needed to ascertain whether the worker contracted the disease, shall be compensable under workers' compensation, even if the worker is found not to have contracted the disease. If the worker is found to have contracted a disease, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that any injury, disability, chronic or corollary illness or death caused by the disease is compensable under workers' compensation. 

The bill affirms workers’ compensation coverage for any injury, illness or death of any employee, including an employee who is not a public safety worker, arising from the administration of a vaccine related to threatened or potential bioterrorism or epidemic as part of an inoculation program in connection with the employee’s employment or in connection with any governmental program or recommendation for the inoculation of workers. 

The bill creates a rebuttable presumption that any condition or impairment of health of a public safety worker which may be caused by exposure to cancer-causing radiation or radioactive substances is a compensable occupational disease under workers' compensation if the worker was exposed to a carcinogen, or the cancer-causing radiation or radioactive substance, in the course of employment. Employers are required to maintain records of instances of the workers deployed where the presence of known carcinogens was indicated by documents provided to local fire or police departments under the “Worker and Community Right to Know Act,” P.L.1983, c.315 (C.34:5A-1 et seq.) and where events occurred which could result in exposure to those carcinogens. 

In the case of any firefighter with seven or more years of service, the bill creates a rebuttable presumption that, if the firefighter suffers an injury, illness or death which may be caused by cancer, the cancer is a compensable occupational disease. 

The bill provides that, with respect to all of the rebuttable presumptions of coverage, employers may require workers to undergo, at employer expense, reasonable testing, evaluation and monitoring of worker health conditions relevant to determining whether exposures or other presumed causes are actually linked to the deaths, illnesses or disabilities, and further provides that the presumptions of compensability are not adversely affected by failures of employers to require testing, evaluation or monitoring. 

The public safety workers covered by the bill include paid or volunteer emergency, correctional, fire, police and medical personnel. 

This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2018-2019 session pending technical review. As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed. 

The following bill(s) have been scheduled for a committee or a legislative session. 

The following bill(s) have been scheduled for a committee or a legislative session.
A1741:
Quijano, Annette/Benson, Daniel R./Lagana, Joseph A.
"Thomas P. Canzanella Twenty First Century First Responders Protection Act"; concerns workers' compensation for public safety workers.
6/20/2019 1:00:00 PM Assembly
Voting Session
Assembly Chambers
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bills/BillView.asp?BillNumber=A1741

S716:
Greenstein, Linda R./Bateman, Christopher
"Thomas P. Canzanella Twenty First Century First Responders Protection Act"; concerns workers' compensation for public safety workers.
6/20/2019 1:00:00 PM Assembly
Voting Session
Assembly Chambers
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bills/BillView.asp?BillNumber=S716

…. 

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

Updated: 06-15-2019

Verdict: $2 Billion -- Herbicide Occupational Exposures - The Next Wave of Serious Compensation Claims

A jury in California has awarded a couple $2 Billion as a result of cancer contracted after using RoundUp manufactured by Monsanto. This is the 3rd verdict in a row in a series of trials against the pesticide manufacturer.

Firefighter Cancer Registry

To better examine firefighters’ exposure to carcinogens and its effects, legislation sponsored by Yvonne Lopez, Annette Quijano and John Armato to establish a voluntary firefighter cancer registry was signed into law Friday by Governor Phil Murphy.

House Appropriations Committee Releases Discretionary Labor-HHS Funding Bill

Worker safety and health is a focus of the just released House Committee on Appropriations. The Legislation increases discretionary funding by $11.7 billion from the 2019 level, investing in education, health care, medical research, and job training so people have a better chance at a better life; Bill funds firearm injury and mortality prevention research at CDC for first time in more than 20 years.

EPA Asbestos Rule Announced: Still Leaves Deadly Carcinogen Legal

Today’s post is shared from ewg.com

The rule announced today by the US Environmental Protection Agency claiming to strengthen the agency’s ability to restrict certain uses of the notorious carcinogen asbestos falls short of what is required to fully protect public health, said The Environmental Working Group [EWG] legislative attorney Melanie Benesh.

CDC has requested comments for the feasibility of a mesothelioma registry

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has announced the opening of a docket to obtain information on the feasibility of a registry designed to track mesothelioma cases in the United States, as well as recommendations on enrollment, data collection, confidentiality, and registry maintenance. The purpose of such a registry would be to collect information that could be used to develop and improve standards of care and to identify gaps in mesothelioma prevention and treatment.

An Employer Must Provide Accommodation for Off-Hours Use of Medical Marijuana

An employee licensed to use medical marijuana under the New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act may proceed with a the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) action ageist his employer for unlawful termination. 

A Surge in Groundskeeper/Landscaper Cancer Claims Foreseeable

The second jury verdict that occurred in California against Monsanto/Bayer for cancer arising out of exposure to Roundup that contained glyphosate may foreshadow a surge in workers’ compensation cancer claims for groundskeepers and landscapers.