Hantavirus, the Andes Strain, and the Workers' Compensation System's Preparedness for Person-to-Person Infectious Disease Outbreaks
Showing posts with label occupational illness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label occupational illness. Show all posts
Friday, May 8, 2026
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
Protecting Healthcare Heroes: Pandemic Preparedness
The 2025 Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB) report, The New Face of Pandemic Preparedness, arrives with a sobering message: five years after COVID-19 began, the world remains dangerously unprepared for the next pandemic. But perhaps nowhere is this vulnerability more acute than among healthcare workers and first responders—the very people we depend on when crisis strikes.
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Unmasking Asbestos's Genetic Fingerprint
The recently published study, "From asbestos exposure to carcinogenesis: Transcriptomic signatures in malignant pleural mesothelioma", identifies specific gene expression patterns (differentially expressed genes, or DEGs) in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) who have a documented history of asbestos exposure. The research deepens our understanding of the molecular changes that occur due to asbestos-induced carcinogenesis.
Friday, March 14, 2025
Bird Flu Transmission: Occupational Hazards
Persons working closely with animals infected with the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) virus, such as dairy cows, poultry, and other animals, are at an elevated risk of contracting the virus.
Tuesday, June 9, 2020
Health Care Experts Discuss a COVID Second Wave
How do we know when the second wave is starting? What should we expect? These are only two of the questions Dr. Chad Kessler, National Program Director for VHA Emergency Medicine, asked during a recent COVID in 20 interview with VA Infectious Disease and Epidemiology wizards, Michael A. Gelman, M.D., Ph.D., and Gio Baracco, M.D., from James J. Peters VA Medical Center in the Bronx, New York and Miami VA Healthcare System in Miami, Florida respectively.
Thursday, August 23, 2018
The Admissibility of Scientific Evidence: A New Evidentiary Standard
The New Jersey Supreme Court has adopted a new evidentiary standard to evaluate the admissibility of scientific evidence. While expanding the guidelines to consider Daubert factors in determining the admissibility of expert testimony, the Court did not embrace the full body of Daubert case law as applied by 39 other state and federal courts. Daubert v. Merrill Dow Pharms., Inc. 509 U.S. 579 (1973), N.J.R. Evid. 702.
Monday, February 26, 2018
Preventing Occupational Disease: NJ Governor Murphy Supports a Fracking Ban
The State of New Jersey now supports a ban on fracking. NJ Governor Pat Murphy recognized the health and environmental consequences of using this process to explore and mine for natural gas.
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Chaos in Workers' Compensation - Raising Medicare's Eligibility Age to 67
A new issue for workers' compensation programs is emerging as the Republicans push forward on their legislative agenda to reform Medicare. Uncertainty over the impact of raising the eligibility age for Medicare from 65 to 67 may seriously and adversely impact the nation's network of fragile workers' compensation schemes. Furthermore, looming in the background is also the elimination of The Affordable Care Act and the consequence of a large pool of uninsured again seniors.
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Who Is Paying the Bills for Occupational Illnesses and Disease?
A recently published study from the US Department of Health and Human Services (NIOSH) reports that 45% of emergency room medical expenses for occupational illnesses and disease are not expected to be paid by workers' compensation insurance coverage.
Click here to read the complete report: Use of Workers’ Compensation Data for Occupational Safety and Health: Proceedings from June 2012 Workshop (May 2013) Identifying Workers’ Compensation as the Expected Payer in Emergency Department Medical Records, Larry L. Jackson, PhD, Susan J. Derk, MA, Suzanne M. Marsh, MPA, Audrey A. Reichard, OTR, MPH National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Occupational Illnesses Continue to Unnecessarily Kill Workers
A recent Letter to the Editor in the New York Times focuses on the fact that US workers continue to suffer from fatal occupational diseases and illness that are avoidable.
Commenting on the feature article exposing the need to great enforcement of safety measures by OSHA, Tom O'Connor, Executive Director, National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, stated: "While nearly 5,000 workers die on the job each year, an estimated 50,000 more develop an occupational illness. Yet despite this toll, the federal government sits on rules that could help prevent workers from developing occupational illnesses. A proposed rule that would prevent workers from being exposed to dangerous levels of silica dust on the job has remained mired at the Office of Management and Budget for more than two years."
Click here to read the entire letter: LETTER Rules on Worker Health, Tom O'Connor Should Your Job Kill You?
Commenting on the feature article exposing the need to great enforcement of safety measures by OSHA, Tom O'Connor, Executive Director, National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, stated: "While nearly 5,000 workers die on the job each year, an estimated 50,000 more develop an occupational illness. Yet despite this toll, the federal government sits on rules that could help prevent workers from developing occupational illnesses. A proposed rule that would prevent workers from being exposed to dangerous levels of silica dust on the job has remained mired at the Office of Management and Budget for more than two years."Click here to read the entire letter: LETTER Rules on Worker Health, Tom O'Connor Should Your Job Kill You?
Read more about "occupational illness" and workers' compensation:
Mar 18, 2011
Fire fighters in Canada are supporting legislation that would establish a legal presumption that breast cancer is an occupationally related illness. The legislation also creates a presumption that 3 other cancers (skin, prostate ...
Mar 31, 2013
A just published study reports that only 25% of occupational disease claims are covered by US workers' compensation programs. Click here to read the entire report: Economic Burden of Occupational Injury and Illness in the .
Mar 05, 2010
Alice in Wonderland has been released in the movie theaters today. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has been quick to remind us of the Mad Hatter and mercury exposures. "Society has made ...
Mar 17, 2011
In a series of articles, Celeste Monforton discusses the absence in the U.S. of a comprehensive system for surveillance of occupational illnesses sand disease. Citing the the U.S. Surgeon General in 1965 that..."it is almost ...
Sunday, March 31, 2013
OSHA Needs To Be Strengthened
If workplaces were safer then there would be no reason to have a workers' compensation program at all. OSHA, The Occupational Safety and Head Health Administration (OSHA), does just that, but its enforcement powers are lacking.
"OSHA devotes most of its budget and attention to responding to here-and-now dangers rather than preventing the silent, slow killers that, in the end, take far more lives. Over the past four decades, the agency has written new standards with exposure limits for 16 of the most deadly workplace hazards, including lead, asbestos and arsenic. But for the tens of thousands of other dangerous substances American workers handle each day, employers are largely left to decide what exposure level is safe.
***
“"I’m the first to admit this [OSHA] is broken,' said David Michaels, the OSHA director, referring to the agency’s record on dealing with workplace health threats. 'Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people end up on the gurney.'"
OSHA was created legislatively by Congress in 1970. In the years following The National
Commission on Workmen's Compensation Laws in 1972 reported that safety should be encouraged, and that, "....Economic incentives in the program should reduce the number of work-related· injuries
and diseases."
Today, The New York Times reports that "Occupational illness and injuries ....cost the American economy $250 Billion per year due to medical expenses and lost productivity."
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| English: A picture of David Michaels, Assistant Secretary of Labor. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
***
“"I’m the first to admit this [OSHA] is broken,' said David Michaels, the OSHA director, referring to the agency’s record on dealing with workplace health threats. 'Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people end up on the gurney.'"
Click here to read the complete article, As OSHA Emphasizes Safety, Long-Term Health Risks Fester
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Chamber of Commerce Attempts to Injure Asbestos Victims Further
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| Deadly Asbestos |
Asbestos has been a known carcinogen for decades. Not yet banned in the US, exposure to asbestos is has been causally linked to: asbestos, lung caner and mesothelioma.
The indiscriminate manufacture and use of asbestos fiber in the US, and worldwide, has resulted in an epidemic of workers' compensation claims throughout the US, and the longest running tort claims in the nations' history. Millions of innocent asbestos victims, and their families, have suffered unfortunate illness and needless illness and death.
The US Chamber of commerce is actively supporting in the US Congress, and in state legislatures, laws to require disclose of private settlements made in asbestos bankruptcy claims. While the Federal law is pending in Congress, the state legislation is actively being advanced.
See H.R.4369 Furthering Asbestos Claim Transparency (FACT) Act of 2012
Click on this link to registered your OPPOSITION to the legislation.
Read more about "asbestos"
Nov 29, 2012
Fitch Ratings estimates industry asbestos reserves to be deficient by $2 billion to $8 billion at year-end 2011. Asbestos reserves make up approximately 4% of total property/casualty industry reserves with approximately 50% ...
Nov 14, 2012
In an effort to protect workers and public from deadly asbetsos fiber, the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan has now mandated that builings containing asbestos fiber be publically listed and the list published to the Internet.
Nov 08, 2012
Today in Boston a steam pipe burst near Boston City Hall exposing the population to cancer causing asbestos fiber. Asbestos continues to be a major health hazard since it remains in construction material exposuing workers ...
Nov 04, 2012
The path of destruction to buildings caused by hurricane Sandy has created a potential threat of deadly asbestos exposure. Many structures destroyed and damaged by the storm contained asbestos fiber and those were ...
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Reserves for Asbestos Losses Anticipated to be Deficient
Fitch Ratings estimates industry asbestos reserves to be deficient by $2 billion to $8 billion at year-end 2011. Asbestos reserves make up approximately 4% of total property/casualty industry reserves with approximately 50% of reserves concentrated in five insurers.
In a new report, Fitch examines a range of loss scenarios and future payments for asbestos losses up to an ultimate industry loss of $85 billion. Based on recent development experience and its latest analysis of loss payment scenarios, Fitch's target industry survival ratio is 11x-14x.
The reported industry survival ratio for asbestos liabilities increased modestly to 10.3x in 2011 from 10.1x in 2010 and 9.9x in 2009, indicating that incurred losses have expanded at a faster rate than paid losses in recent years.
Fitch's analysis reveals that the (re)insurance industry remains strongly capitalized with the capacity to absorb future asbestos claims without risk of material capital depletion. While Fitch does not anticipate broad rating actions related to asbestos, the ratings of individual companies could be adversely affected by the severity of reserve deficiencies relative to capital.
The full report is available on the Fitch web site at 'www.fitchratings.com'.
The full report is available on the Fitch web site at 'www.fitchratings.com'.
More about asbestos
Nov 14, 2012
In an effort to protect workers and public from deadly asbetsos fiber, the Canadian Province of Saskatchewan has now mandated that builings containing asbestos fiber be publically listed and the list published to the Internet.
Nov 04, 2012
The path of destruction to buildings caused by hurricane Sandy has created a potential threat of deadly asbestos exposure. Many structures destroyed and damaged by the storm contained asbestos fiber and those were ...
Nov 08, 2012
Today in Boston a steam pipe burst near Boston City Hall exposing the population to cancer causing asbestos fiber. Asbestos continues to be a major health hazard since it remains in construction material exposuing workers ...
Sep 04, 2012
The Canadian Journal of Medicine had also endorsed a ban on Canadian asbestos production. "Canada's government must put an end to this death-dealing charade. Canada must immediately drop its opposition to placing .
Related articles
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Five US Airports that Put Employees and Passengers At Risk For Environmental Tobacco Smoke
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| Secondhand Smoke Is Deadly |
Average air pollution levels from secondhand smoke directly outside designated smoking areas in airports are five times higher than levels in smoke-free airports, according to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study conducted in five large hub U.S. airports also showed that air pollution levels inside designated smoking areas were 23 times higher than levels in smoke-free airports. In the study, designated smoking areas in airports included restaurants, bars, and ventilated smoking rooms.
Five of the 29 largest airports in the United States allow smoking in designated areas that are accessible to the public. The airports that allow smoking include Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Washington Dulles International Airport, McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, Denver International Airport, and Salt Lake City International Airport. More than 110 million passenger boardings—about 15 percent of all U.S. air travel—occurred at these five airports last year.
"The findings in today’s report further confirm that ventilated smoking rooms and designated smoking areas are not effective," said Tim McAfee, M.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. "Prohibiting smoking in all indoor areas is the only effective way to fully eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke."
A 2006 Surgeon General’s Report concluded that there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Although smoking was banned on all U.S. domestic and international commercial airline flights through a series of federal laws adopted from 1987 to 2000, no federal policy requires airports to be smoke-free.
"Instead of going entirely smoke-free, five airports continue to allow smoking in restaurants, bars or ventilated smoking rooms. However, research shows that separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air and ventilating buildings cannot fully eliminate secondhand smoke exposure," said Brian King, Ph.D., an epidemiologist with CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health and co-author of the report. "People who spend time in, pass by, clean, or work near these rooms are at risk of exposure to secondhand smoke."
Secondhand smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults and is a known cause of sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS, respiratory problems, ear infections, and asthma attacks in infants and children. Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can trigger acute cardiac events such as heart attack. Cigarette use kills an estimated 443,000 Americans each year, including 46,000 heart disease deaths and 3,400 lung cancer deaths among nonsmokers from exposure to secondhand smoke.
For an online version of this MMWR report, visit http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr. For quitting assistance, call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) or visit www.smokefree.gov
. Also, visit www.BeTobaccoFree.gov for information on quitting and preventing children from using tobacco. For real stories of people who have quit successfully, visit http://www.cdc.gov/tips. For state-specific tobacco-related data, visit CDC's State Tobacco Activities Tracking and Evaluation System at http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/statesystem.Read More About "Secondhand" Environmental Smoke
Apr 23, 2011
"Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure causes lung cancer and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in nonsmoking adults and children, resulting in an estimated 46,000 heart disease deaths and 3,400 lung cancer deaths ...
Feb 20, 2008
An Atlantic City NJ casino card dealer employed at the Claridge Hotel who was exposed to second hand tobacco smoke was awarded workers' compensation benefits. NJ Judge Cosmo Giovinazzi award $150,00 for lost ...
Nov 14, 2012
"Secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure causes lung cancer and cardiovascular and respiratory diseases in nonsmoking adults and children, resulting in an estimated 46,000 heart disease deaths and 3,400 lung cancer deaths .
Oct 06, 2011
Lubick (2011) discussed the global health burden of secondhand smoke, and Burton (2011)emphasized a new and alarming consequence of smoking in indoor environments—“thirdhand smoke”—a term first coined in 2006 ...
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