Older Workers Fall Risk

The aging workforce faces a hidden but deadly threat: workplace falls. Recent data reveal that fall-related deaths among older adults have more than tripled in the past 30 years, with over 41,000 Americans aged 65 and older dying from falls in 2023 alone. This alarming trend extends beyond the home into workplace environments, where employers must urgently address the unique vulnerabilities of their aging employees.

Potential Impact of the Purdue Pharma Bankruptcy Case

The Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case will significantly impact workers’ compensation cases nationally. The US Supreme Court heard oral argument this week, and the potential consequences are far-reaching.

Use of Opioid Settlement Funds in NJ

As part of the Murphy Administration’s ongoing efforts to help New Jerseyans impacted by the opioid crisis, and in recognition of Overdose Awareness Day, Governor Phil Murphy announced additional steps the Administration is taking in New Jersey. Through a new online portal and Executive Order No. 305, the Governor has established two methods through which members of the public and relevant stakeholders can provide their input on the best use of the opioid settlement funds that New Jersey is receiving.

US Supreme Declines to Review Medical Marijuana Reimbursement Issue

The US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) declined to review the Minnesota Supreme Court’s decision prohibiting reimbursement of medical marijuana costs in a workers’ compensation claim. The Petitioner for a Writ of Certiorari conference was denied today.  Musta v. Mendota Heights Dental Center, et al., No. 21-998. Therefore, the individual States will remain the authority on whether reimbursement for medical marijuana will be permitted in a workers' compensation claim.

NY Attorney General James Announces Proposed $26 Billion Global Agreement with Opioid Distributors/Manufacturer

New York Attorney General Letitia James today announced a historic proposed $26 billion agreement that will help deliver desperately needed relief to communities across New York and the rest of the nation struggling with opioid addiction. 

NJ Supreme Holds Employers Responsible for Workers' Compensation Medical Marijuana Costs

The NJ Supreme has recognized that the workers’ compensation system has a legislative mandate to provide the safest medical care to cure and relieve occupational injuries. The Court acknowledged both state and Federal trends to provide non-addictive and non-fatal pain relief in place of the dangerous opioids. 

 

The intent that embraced the creation and development of the social insurance system has given the Court a rational and logical basis, consistent with public policy, to order medical marijuana for palliative care.

UCSF and Johns Hopkins University Launch Digital Trove of Opioid Industry Documents

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and Johns Hopkins University today announced the launch of the Opioid Industry Documents Archive, a digital repository of publicly disclosed documents from recent judgments, settlements, and ongoing lawsuits concerning the opioid crisis.

Injured Workers Pharmacy Enters into $11 Million Opioid Settlement for Illegal Dispensing and Sales

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey announced a $11 million settlement with an Andover mail-order pharmacy resolving allegations that it failed to implement adequate safeguards against unlawful and dangerous dispensing, resulting in the shipment of thousands of potentially illegitimate controlled substance prescriptions across the country.

Medical Marijuana and the Supremacy Clause

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” -John F. Kennedy

An unsettled area of the law has emerged between, the widespread adoption by the states to permit prescribed marijuana to relieve certain medical conditions and the strict federal law mandating the substance as a Schedule 1, Controlled Substance [CSA]. With an estimated 43.3 million Americans using the elicited drug, and the challenges of the “opioid epidemic” creating massive addiction and fatal results, the nation’s workers’ compensation system has been challenged to provide adequate authorized medical treatment.

Judicial discretion

Just APPROVED FOR PUBLICATION 12/13/2019 a NJ Appellate case defining expectations and focussing on: judicial discretion, medical treatment and disallowed prescription opioids that do not ”cure and relieve.”

New Opioid Prescription Regulations

Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, together with the New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies ("NJ CARES"), today announced a series of regulatory actions that will advance the State’s battle to end the opioid epidemic, including proposed rules that will expand access to the prevention and treatment of opioid use disorder through telemedicine.

Federal opioid limitations: Good intentions, bad outcomes

Today's guest author is Jon Rehm, Esq. of the Nebraska bar.

Senate Republicans and Democrats, including Presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand, have introduced legislation that would limit opioid prescriptions to a set number of days and limit refills. In my view such legislation would negatively impact people who were injured on the job.

I mostly agree with analysis of the legislation that was recently published in Rewire. One size fits all solutions don’t account for the needs of patients with chronic pain. Recently authors of the Centers for Disease Control guidelines for opioid prescriptions have stated that those guidelines have been misused to arbitrarily limit opioid prescriptions for pain management.

As a practical matter, in my experience prescriptions for opioids are already severely limited for injured workers. Statutory limits on opioids are a good excuse for insurers and self-insureds to wash their hands of future medical care obligations under workers compensation.

Opioid prescription limitations have other effects. Pain doctors who don’t prescribe opioids have more time to perform procedures. Procedures are more profitable for doctors and increase cost. Primary care doctors are often reluctant to prescribe opioids which puts more pressure on pain management doctors. 

There are alternatives to opioids for pain management. Stem cell therapy has shown promise in treating pain. But insurers are reluctant to approve those options as that could increase costs for them and leave medical claims under workers’ compensation open.

I believe that opioid prescription monitoring is a better solution to fighting addiction than prescription limits. Those systems can flag potential problem users and get them help. In the case of someone hurt on the job who develops an addiction to pain medication, treatment for that addiction could be covered by workers compensation.

Massachusetts also developed what amounts to a drug court for opioids within their workers’ compensation court. Problem solving courts, like drug courts, are being increasingly used to help those with substance use issues in the criminal justice system. Massachusetts has adopted the idea in an administrative setting. Federal limits on opioid prescriptions would run counter to innovative programs put in place at a state and local level.

Workers compensation laws developed in the early 20th century when workplace safety laws could only be constitutionally enacted through state police powers under the 10th Amendment. Constitutional law evolved changed during the New Deal era which gave Congress broader regulatory powers over workplace safety and the economy in general.

As a result of the broadening of federal regulatory powers, federal laws limiting opioid prescriptions would likely be constitutional even if they interfered with innovative state programs like Massachusetts workers’ compensation opioid court. While the federal government seems to feel compelled to undercut state workers compensation laws to the detriment of workers, the federal government has given up on oversight of state workers compensation laws that could benefit workers.

The United States Department of Labor monitored state workers compensation laws as result of recommendations from the National Commission on State Workers Compensation Laws.The Commission set up 18 standards for state laws. The DOL stopped overseeing state workers compensation laws in 2004.

In 2015 several Senators and Congressional members, including then and current Presidential candidate, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, wrote to the Secretary of Labor about reinstating federal oversight of state workers compensation laws. Reporting by Pro Publica highlighted the shortcomings of state workers’ compensation laws The Department of Labor has made no progress on federal oversight of state workers’ compensation laws since then.

See also:

The Oklahoma Settlement: A Promising Impact on Workers' Compensation

State of NJ Sues a NJ Based Opioid Manufacturer Seeking Reimbursement for Workers' Compensation

Editorial: Why is the Florida Senate helping drug companies in opioid lawsuit?

Expert witness in opioids MDL: Fixing crisis will cost $438 billion

….

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  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

The Oklahoma Opioid Settlement: A Promising Impact on Workers’ Compensation

The first major settlement in the nation’s massive litigation effort against the manufacturers of opioids may present an outline of how the effort will affect workers’ compensation programs throughout the United States. The settlement outlines a substantial contribution to assist those individuals negatively affected by opioid addiction. 

The Oklahoma Attorney general yesterday announced an historical settlement in the pending state’s opioid litigation. Attorney General Mike Hunter and Oklahoma State University leaders  announced an historic settlement with Purdue Pharma that will establish a nearly $200 million endowment at the Oklahoma State University’s Center for Wellness and Recovery, which will go toward treating the ongoing addiction epidemic nationwide. 

“‘The addiction crisis facing our state and nation is a clear and present danger,’ Attorney General Hunter said. ‘Last year alone, out of the more than 3,000 Oklahomans admitted to the hospital for a non-fatal overdose, 80 percent involved a prescription opioid medication. Additionally, nearly 50 percent of Oklahomans who died from a drug overdose in 2018 were attributed to a pharmaceutical drug. Deploying the money from this settlement immediately allows us to decisively treat addiction illness and save lives.” 

Joseph F. Rice, Esq., of Motley Rice LLC, co-lead counsel and a member of the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee for the National Prescription Opiate Multidistrict Litigation, coordinated in the Northern District of Ohio, commented, “This is a significant step in the effort of the governmental entities around the country to address the opioid epidemic. Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family, by entering into this settlement, have taken a step forward to address what has been alleged as decades of misinformation, inappropriate marketing and efforts to grow the use of opioids, some of the most addictive narcotic drugs in our society.” 

The US Centers for Disease Control [CDC] has reported that from 1999-2017 almost 400,000 people died from an overdose involving any opioids, including prescription and illicit opioids. On the average, 130 Americans dies every day from an opioid overdose. 

Treatment of work related injuries and the resulting pain have produced an epidemic of opioid related addiction and fatalities. The CDC issued guidelines in 2016 for the prescription of opioids. New safety warnings were also added to all prescription opioid medications. State laws were enacted to add restrictions and limitation on opioid prescriptions. The NJ Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against a subsidiary of NJ based Johnson and Johnson seeking reimbursement for workers' compensation costs resulting from deceptive opioid advertising. At least 33 states have sued the opioid manufacturers. This is a significant action as Johnson and Johnson is a major player in New Jersey's economy. 

An unintended consequence of the restrictions placed on the prescription of opioids has been the inability of injured workers to obtain adequate pain relief. Suicide rates have increased, John Heubusch, a cancer patient, writing in the Washington Post stated, “ We have reached the point where doctors believe the next prescription they write for opioids to treat chronic pain might be their last. In my own case, I’ve had to undergo countless unsuccessful procedures and near superhuman efforts to be granted barely enough medication to try to live a normal life. Even those doctors with the courage to prescribe them for chronic pain sufferers are finding the hurdles established by federal and state reporting requirements so onerous that they are simply turning patients away.”…..”Opioid prescriptions have shrunk substantially, but Washington’s goal now is to cut their number by a further one-third. In a bitter irony, opioid overdose deaths continue to hover at an all-time high. Many chronic pain patients, denied prescriptions, are self-medicating on the street, using synthetic drugs such as fentanyl, 50 times more powerful than heroin. There, danger and overdose lurk around every corner. Even worse, some who have lost all hope for pain relief are choosing to end their pain by ending it all. The risk of suicide among patients with chronic pain is twice that of those without it." 

The Oklahoma settlement is an staring effort to the resolution of the opioid epidemic and the its consequences. Hopefully, this will bring those responsible for the opioid problem to the table to discuss sensible solutions so that injured workers’ can be provided medical care to relieve their pain without resulting addiction and death. This promising future would economically benefit employers, workers’ compensation insurance companies, and public entities that medically treat workplace injuries. All stakeholders involved in the workers’ compensation system hopefully can look to a more promising future.

See also:
New York Sues Sackler Family Members and Drug Distributors (NY Times 3/29/2019)
New York State 1st Amended Complaint (3/28/2019)

….

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  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com  has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

Updated: 3/29/2019

State of NJ Sues a NJ Based Opioid Manufacturer Seeking Reimbursement of Workers' Compensation Costs

The NJ Attorney General has filed a lawsuit against a subsidiary of NJ based Johnson and Johnson seeking reimbursement for workers' compensation costs resulting from deceptive opioid advertising. This is a significant action as Johnson and Johnson is a major player in New Jersey's economy.

Massachusetts Sues Purdue Pharma for Illegally Marketing Opioids and Profiting From Opioid Epidemic

More than 670 Massachusetts Residents Prescribed Purdue Opioids Died from Opioid-Related Overdoses since 2009; Purdue Sales Reps Made 150,000 Visits to Medical Offices Since 2008, Sold 70 Million Doses Generating $500 Million in Revenue

Attorney General Maura Healey sued Purdue Pharma L.P. and Purdue Pharma Inc. (Purdue) for misleading prescribers and consumers about the addiction and health risks of their opioids, including OxyContin, to get more people to take these drugs, at higher and more dangerous doses, and for longer periods of time to increase the companies’ profits.

Opioid Epidemic: Walgreens to Pay $5.5 Million Over Alleged Overcharges for Prescription Drugs

Walgreens Overcharged for Drugs Covered by State Workers’ Compensation System. A Settlement was entered into with Massachusetts Attorney General's’ Office to fund programs that address the Opioid Epidemic.

22 million U.S. workers are exposed to hazardous occupational noise

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data regarding injuries, deaths, and illness faced by millions every year in the workplace. This week’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) issue is devoted to occupational health concerns, in acknowledgment of Workers Memorial Day (April 28th).

Asbestos Related Deaths in NJ Continue at Record Rates

Source: EWG Fund
asbestosnation.org/

Asbestos related disease, including mesothelioma, continues in New Jersey at epidemic proportions according to an article authored by Environmental Working Group that reviews data of the CDC-WONDER database.

Read more about "mesothelioma" and workers' compensation:

Workers' Compensation: New staging of mesothelioma tumors may ... Feb 9, 2016 ... A recent study indicates that a new physician staging processes by weight and volume of mesothelioma tumors may be helpful in predicting ... workers-compensation.blogspot.com

Workers' Compensation: Pleural mesothelioma reported in a school ... 6 days ago ... Fibro Clay, and its causal relationship to mesothelioma, has been ... Malignantmesothelioma cases among primary school teachers are usually ... workers-compensation.blogspot.com

Asbestos Cement Factories Pose High Risk Mesothelioma Jul 20, 2012 ... An increased risk of developing asbestos related disease, including mesothelioma, was identified in a recent study. Asbestos exposure has ... workers-compensation.blogspot.com

Workers' Compensation: Mesothelioma Rates Continue to be High Jun 29, 2012 ... Mesothelioma is a rare but highly fatal cancer of the thin membranes surrounding the chest cavity or abdominal cavity. The only ... workers-compensation.blogspot.com

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New safety warnings also added to all prescription opioid medications

FDA
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

FDA announces enhanced warnings for immediate-release opioid pain medications related to risks of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose and death. New safety warnings also added to all prescription opioid medications to inform prescribers and patients of additional risks related to opioid use.

Proposed 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the opening of a docket to obtain public comment on the draft CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain (Guideline). The Guideline provides recommendations regarding initiation or continuation of opioids for chronic pain; opioid selection, dosage, duration, follow-up, and discontinuation; and assessment of risk and addressing harms of opioid use.

The Guideline is intended to be used by primary care providers (e.g., family physicians or internists) who are treating patients with chronic pain (i.e., pain lasting longer than 3 months or past the time of normal tissue healing) in outpatient settings. The draft Guideline is intended to apply to patients aged 18 years of age or older with chronic pain outside of palliative and end-of-life care. The Guideline is not intended to apply to patients in treatment for active cancer.

The Guideline is not a federal regulation; adherence to the Guideline will be voluntary.

Dates
Written comments must be received on or before January 13, 2016.

Proposed 2016 Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain
You may submit comments, identified by Docket No. CDC-2015-0112 by any of the following methods:

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
• Mail: National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE., Mailstop F-63, Atlanta, GA 30341, Attn: Docket CDC-2015-0112.
• Instructions: All submissions received must include the agency name and Docket Number. All relevant comments received will be posted without change to http://regulations.gov, including any personal information provided. For access to the docket to read background documents or comments received, go to http://www.regulations.gov.

For Further Information Contact
Arlene I. Greenspan, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4770 Buford Highway NE., Mailstop F-63, Atlanta, GA 30341; Telephone: 770-488-4696.

Supplementary Information
Background
CDC developed the draft Guideline to provide recommendations about opioid prescribing for primary care providers who are treating adult patients with chronic pain in outpatient settings, outside of active cancer treatment, palliative care, and end-of-life care. The draft Guideline summarizes scientific knowledge about the effectiveness and risks of long-term opioid therapy, and provides recommendations for when to initiate or continue opioids for chronic pain; opioid selection, dosage, duration, follow-up, and discontinuation; and assessing risk and addressing harms of opioid use. The draft Guideline identifies important gaps in the literature where further research is needed.

To develop the recommendations, CDC conducted a systematic review on benefits and harms of opioids and developed the draft Guideline using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) framework. CDC drafted recommendations and consulted with experts on the evidence to inform the recommendations. CDC hosted webinars in September 2015 and also provided opportunities for stakeholder and peer review of the draft Guideline. The Guideline is not a federal regulation; adherence to the Guideline will be voluntary. For additional information on prescription drug overdose, please visit http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/prescribing/guideline.html.

Supporting and Related Material in the Docket
The docket contains the following supporting and related materials to help inform public comment:
The Guideline;

1. the Clinical Evidence Review Appendix; 
2. the Contextual Evidence Review Appendix; and 
3. three documents that comprise the Comment Summaries and CDC Responses 

• (Constituent Comment Summary, 
• Peer Review Summary, and 
• Stakeholder Review Group Summary). 

The Clinical Evidence Review Appendix and the Contextual Evidence Review Appendix include primary evidence, studies, and data tables that were used by CDC to develop the recommendations in the Guideline.

The Constituent Comment Summary reflects input obtained in response to webinars hosted on September 16 and September 17, 2015, during which CDC shared an overview of the development process and draft recommendation statements.

The Stakeholder Review Group Summary also reflects input obtained from stakeholders (comprised of professional and community organizations) following their review of a prior draft of the Guideline.

Finally, the Peer Review Summary reflects input obtained from three scientific peer reviewers following their review of a draft of the full Guideline, along with a summary of comments received and CDC responses.

Dated: December 9, 2015.
Veronica Kennedy,
Acting Executive Secretary, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2015-31375 Filed 12-11-15; 8:45 am]

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