The COVID-19 pandemic has the potential of generating an enormous number of occupational illness claims from health care workers [HCW] and first responders [FR]. Several governmental leaders have called for a nationalized workers’ compensation benefit program to handle the surge of claims.
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Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Friday, October 7, 2016
US Department of Labor Urges Major Changes in the Nation's Workers' Compensation System
Monday, December 21, 2015
Congress extends the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act
The United States Congress has voted to extend the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act as part of a major spending bill that now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law. The bill will extend the World Trade Center Health Program to 2090 and provide full compensation to survivors and first responders through the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Senator Gillibrand: We Have a Moral Obligation to Care for 9/11 Heroes, Survivors & Their Families
As the Zadroga Act slowly journeys to expiration, Senator Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) declared that, “We Have a Moral Obligation to Continue to Provide the Critically Needed Care and Compensation That Our 9/11 Heroes, Survivors and Their Families Deserve."
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Health and Compensation Programs Passed Into Law After Almost Decade Long Fight Set to Expire This Year – Participants in 9/11 Health Program Living in All 50 States and 429 of 435 Congressional Districts
After nearly a decade long fight to stand by our first responders who answered the call of duty on September 11th, Congress finally fulfilled its moral obligation in late 2010 and provided our 9/11 heroes with the health care and financial compensation they deserved by passing the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act. With the Zadroga bill’s two critical programs – the World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program and the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund – set to expire in October 2015 and October 2016 respectively a bipartisan group of lawmakers from across the country today introduced the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Reauthorization Act to permanently extend these programs. Last month, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed an amendment to the Senate budget resolution that will facilitate future legislation to renew and extend the Zadroga Act.
Thursday, February 19, 2015
Minimum Latency & Types or Categories of Cancer Revised for WTC Program
The WTC Program Administrator has determined minimum latencies for the following five types or categories of cancer eligible for coverage in the WTC Health Program:
(1) Mesothelioma—11 years, based on direct observation after exposure to mixed forms of asbestos;
(2) All solid cancers (other than mesothelioma, lymphoproliferative, thyroid, and childhood cancers)—4 years, based on low estimates used for lifetime risk modeling of low-level ionizing radiation studies;
(3) Lymphoproliferative and hematopoietic cancers (including all types of leukemia and lymphoma)—0.4 years (equivalent to 146 days), based on low estimates used for lifetime risk modeling of low-level ionizing radiation studies;
(4) Thyroid cancer—2.5 years, based on low estimates used for lifetime risk modeling of low level ionizing radiation studies; and
(5) Childhood cancers (other than lymphoproliferative and hematopoietic cancers)—1 year, based on the National Academy of Sciences findings.
According to the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 ("Act") (42 U.S.C. §§ 300mm to 300mm-61), a determination that an individual's 9/11 exposure is substantially likely to be a significant factor in aggravating, contributing to, or causing an individual’s health condition must be made based on an assessment of the following: (1) the individual's exposure to airborne toxins, any other hazard, or any other adverse condition resulting from the terrorist attacks; and (2) the type of symptoms and temporal sequence of symptoms (42 U.S.C. § 300mm-22(a)(2)). With regard to the temporal sequence of symptoms, cancers do not occur immediately after exposure to a causative agent and they usually take many years up to several decades to manifest clinically.
Click here to read the entire revised policy. (1/6/2015)
Related articles
(1) Mesothelioma—11 years, based on direct observation after exposure to mixed forms of asbestos;
(2) All solid cancers (other than mesothelioma, lymphoproliferative, thyroid, and childhood cancers)—4 years, based on low estimates used for lifetime risk modeling of low-level ionizing radiation studies;
(3) Lymphoproliferative and hematopoietic cancers (including all types of leukemia and lymphoma)—0.4 years (equivalent to 146 days), based on low estimates used for lifetime risk modeling of low-level ionizing radiation studies;
(4) Thyroid cancer—2.5 years, based on low estimates used for lifetime risk modeling of low level ionizing radiation studies; and
(5) Childhood cancers (other than lymphoproliferative and hematopoietic cancers)—1 year, based on the National Academy of Sciences findings.
According to the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 ("Act") (42 U.S.C. §§ 300mm to 300mm-61), a determination that an individual's 9/11 exposure is substantially likely to be a significant factor in aggravating, contributing to, or causing an individual’s health condition must be made based on an assessment of the following: (1) the individual's exposure to airborne toxins, any other hazard, or any other adverse condition resulting from the terrorist attacks; and (2) the type of symptoms and temporal sequence of symptoms (42 U.S.C. § 300mm-22(a)(2)). With regard to the temporal sequence of symptoms, cancers do not occur immediately after exposure to a causative agent and they usually take many years up to several decades to manifest clinically.
Click here to read the entire revised policy. (1/6/2015)
Related articles
Thursday, February 5, 2015
9/11 Victims Lawsuit Seeks Disclosure of Classified Saudi Information
 |
| King Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz in 2002 ( Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Today's post is shared from nytimes.com
A still-classified section of the investigation by congressional intelligence committees into the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks has taken on an almost mythic quality over the past 13 years — 28 pages that examine crucial support given the hijackers and that by all accounts implicate prominent Saudis in financing terrorism.
Now new claims by Zacarias Moussaoui, a convicted former member of Al Qaeda, that he had high-level contact with officials of the Saudi Arabian government in the prelude to Sept. 11 have brought renewed attention to the inquiry’s withheld findings, which lawmakers and relatives of those killed in the attacks have tried unsuccessfully to declassify.
“I think it is the right thing to do,” said Representative Stephen F. Lynch, Democrat of Massachusetts and an author of a bipartisan resolution encouraging President Obama to declassify the section. “Let’s put it out there.”
White House officials say the administration has undertaken a review on whether to release the pages but has no timetable for when they might be made public
Click here to read the entire article.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Zadroga fund payouts to 9/11 responders gain speed as claims process gets 'better'
Today's post is shared from newsday.com/
Nell McCarthy, the deputy special master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, pointed to two boxes. One contained files about 2 inches thick; the other, a file about 2 feet thick.
That, she said in the fund's nondescript Washington, D.C., offices, showed the range of differences among claims filed by 9/11 responders.
The thinner file was submitted online by a former first responder in law enforcement who had hired an experienced lawyer. The second was filed by a former deliveryman for a restaurant -- with no attorney -- and included entire notebooks containing handwritten statements in nearly indecipherable block printing that often spilled over and encircled the pages.
Both received compensation, McCarthy said. But the first -- who recently died of brain cancer -- was a fairly straightforward case and it took eight months to determine his compensation. The second -- who for a time called the VCF help line every day, even on the weekends -- was not so straightforward. That claim took 2½ years to resolve.
"I am really proud of the work we did with him," McCarthy said of the second claimant, who still calls the VCF.
McCarthy -- a former White House staffer who herself was a block from Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001 -- was hired in April to help expedite claims for ailing responders under the $2.775 billion James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010. The VCF had come under heavy criticism for the...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]
Nell McCarthy, the deputy special master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, pointed to two boxes. One contained files about 2 inches thick; the other, a file about 2 feet thick.
That, she said in the fund's nondescript Washington, D.C., offices, showed the range of differences among claims filed by 9/11 responders.
The thinner file was submitted online by a former first responder in law enforcement who had hired an experienced lawyer. The second was filed by a former deliveryman for a restaurant -- with no attorney -- and included entire notebooks containing handwritten statements in nearly indecipherable block printing that often spilled over and encircled the pages.
Both received compensation, McCarthy said. But the first -- who recently died of brain cancer -- was a fairly straightforward case and it took eight months to determine his compensation. The second -- who for a time called the VCF help line every day, even on the weekends -- was not so straightforward. That claim took 2½ years to resolve.
"I am really proud of the work we did with him," McCarthy said of the second claimant, who still calls the VCF.
McCarthy -- a former White House staffer who herself was a block from Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001 -- was hired in April to help expedite claims for ailing responders under the $2.775 billion James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010. The VCF had come under heavy criticism for the...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]
Saturday, November 1, 2014
NY Governor Cuomo Announces Workers' Compensation Costs for Employers Will Drop by $45 Million
Marks Second Consecutive Year of Savings for Private and Public Employers Including Municipalities and School Districts
2013 Business Relief Act Cuts System Cost to Employers Total of 30% Over Last Two Years
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the rate that employers pay to State's workers' compensation system is dropping yet again, in 2015, resulting in savings to all employers totaling $45 million. The savings are a direct result of the 2013 Business Relief Act, which Governor Cuomo signed into law last year and has cut the assessment rate for employers by a total of 30 percent over the last two years.
"Reducing the cost of doing business in New York has been a top priority for this administration and I'm proud to announce that our reforms to the Workers' Compensation System have lowered rates for the second straight year," Governor Cuomo said. "This is one more way we're improving the economic climate in New York and making this state a place where businesses can grow, thrive and create jobs."
The new assessment methodology and other efficiencies implemented in 2014 resulted in $170 million in administrative savings, of which $18 million directly benefits New York's public employers, like municipalities and school districts. The savings has been applied to 2015, resulting in the assessment rate falling to 13.2 percent from 13.8 percent, the second consecutive annual decline.
Signed by the Governor as part of the 2013-14 Budget, the Business Relief Act standardized and corrected the previously disjointed and antiquated assessment process. Now, all employers are charged with the same methodology, leading to a lower assessment rate for all New York's employers.
The Workers' Compensation Board is continuing to enforce of the legal requirement for employers to carry workers' compensation insurance expands the pool of insureds. Moreover, New York is open for business: both the number of people working in New York State and the amount of employees' total wages earned increased over the last year, contributing to the lower rate.
The Workers' Compensation Board is in the midst of a comprehensive "business process re-engineering" to re-imagine the workers' compensation system. This sweeping examination has identified initial projects that will re-create a system that more effectively serves the needs of injured workers and employers, resulting in further savings for public and private employers in the time to come.
Read more about NY State and workers' compensation:
Jun 28, 2014
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 ...
Jul 01, 2011
Today marks a new milestone in the ongoing efforts to address the health impacts wrought by the September 11th terrorist attacks,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “New York City has always maintained that our nation must share the ...
Apr 10, 2014
“It's a full week,” Mr. Puri explained as he handed out a fact sheet describing New York City's first paid sick leave law. “That includes whether you're caring for yourself or a member of your family.” His eight employees were ...
Jan 12, 2014
Independent research, such as studies by the Workers' Compensation Research Institute, shows that compared to other states, New York's system is slow to pay injured workers and produces poor medical outcomes.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Meet the startups trying to stop pedestrian deaths
| Distracted walking is a new safety concern. Today's post is shared from theverge.com As phones get more powerful and screens get bigger, it gets harder and harder to pull our attention away from them, even when it puts us at risk. One place where that unavoidably happens is in the intersections of city streets, where pedestrians, bikers, and drivers meet — sometimes violently. To try to tackle this problem, AT&T partnered with the NYU Rudin Center for Transportation, the NYC Department of Transportation, educational co-op General Assembly, and software competition site ChallengePost to create Connected Intersections, a four-month developer challenge with the goal of inspiring technologies that can make city streets safer for distracted humans buried in their phones and the people around them. "Traffic lights can only do so much." "Pedestrians and cars are kind of at an impasse right now, and it’s getting to a point where real action needs to be taken," Sarah Kaufman of the Rudin Center said at one of the challenge’s developer open houses back in July. "Every two hours a New Yorker is hurt or badly injured, and every 30 hours one is killed in a car crash. So it’s at a point where we have a big opportunity to start using smart technologies to put the power in the people’s hands. Why not put safety in people’s hands? Traffic lights can only do so much." Connected Intersections ended up collecting 45 ideas from teams in 13 different countries and 26 different states. Eight teams were awarded... |
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Doctor in New York City Tests Positive for Ebola
| Today's post is shared from nytimes.com/ A doctor in New York City who recently returned from treating Ebola patients in Guinea tested positive for the Ebola virus Thursday, becoming the city’s first diagnosed case. The doctor, Craig Spencer, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital Center on Thursday and placed in isolation while health care workers spread out across the city to trace anyone he might have come into contact with in recent days. A further test will be conducted by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to confirm the initial test.  While officials have said they expected isolated cases of the disease to arrive in New York eventually, and had been preparing for this moment for months, the first case highlighted the challenges surrounding containment of the virus, especially in a crowded metropolis.Even as the authorities worked to confirm that Mr. Spencer was infected with Ebola, it emerged that he traveled from Manhattan to Brooklyn on the subway on Wednesday night, when he went to a bowling alley, and then took a taxi home. The next morning, he reported having a temperature of 103 degrees, raising questions about his health while he was out in public. People infected with Ebola cannot spread the disease until they begin to display symptoms, and it cannot be spread through the air. As people become sicker, the viral load in the body builds, and they become more and more contagious. Dr. Spencer’s travel history and the timing of the onset of his symptoms led health officials to... |
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Violence in the Workplace: UPS Employee Kills 3 Aftert Getting Fired
Today's post is shared from the nydailynews.com/
Recently fired UPS worker Joe Tesney, identified by local news sites, allegedly opened fire in a UPS warehouse where he killed two people before himself.
Three people are dead after a recently-fired UPS employee, wearing his uniform, opened fire inside an Alabama warehouse Tuesday morning.
The gunman, identified by local news stations as 45-year-old Joe Tesney, is among the dead at the Birmingham shipping center after taking his own life at the scene, police said.
The gunfire at Inglenook Lane was reported to police around 9:21 a.m. as an active shooter, Chief A.C. Roper said.
Lt. Sean Edwards said the two men killed by the gunman appeared to be higher-ranked UPS employees.
"It appears that the shooter knew exactly who he wanted to target at the time," Edwards told WBRC.Tesney, pictured, is listed as a UPS driver on his LinkedIn page. Police said the suspected gunman was fired on Monday before returning to the warehouse while armed.
The 45-year-old married father of two girls had been fired Monday from the company, The Birmingham News reported.
This news followed a previous attempt by the company to terminate him within the past month. The disgruntled man appealed the decision, but lost in recent days.
Why he was fired was not immediately known.Gunfire was reported around 9:20 a.m. Tuesday at the Birmingham, Ala. facility. Three people are dead.
All of the dead, described as white adult men, were found in the warehouse area near the building’s...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Hillary Clinton calls for re-authorization of Zadroga Act
 Today's post is shared from nydailynews.com Fresh off her appearance in Iowa -- where she dropped several hints about her future presidential ambitions in front of a crowd of more than 6,000 Democrats -- Hillary Clinton looked back as she spoke to a smaller group of labor leaders Tuesday night in Manhattan and called for the re-authorization of the Zadroga Act. Speaking to about 150 labor leaders at the teachers union headquarters, Clinton called for the re-authorization of the 2010 legislation, which compensates 9/11 first responders for health problems cause by working at the World Trade Center site after the attacks. “This is like a homecoming,” Clinton said. She hailed labor leaders as her “comrades in arms” for helping to pass the law four years ago, legislation Clinton sponsored when she served in the Senate. “It was a scene out of Dante’s Inferno,” she said, recalling a visit to Ground Zero after the World Trade Center attacks. “It was as close to Hell as I can imagine any of us experiencing…. It was organized labor that came to the forefront and began working with me and others. Union pension funds became the only source of help for people in need.” The Zadroga Act is set to expire in 2016. “There are thousands who still need help,” she said. “All this work is at risk unless Congress acts.... The price of passage was a so-called sunset clause and... [Click here to see the rest of this post] |
Sunday, September 7, 2014
9-11 Museum nixes exhibit features that dispute link between Ground Zero dust and cancer, health issues
Today's post is shared for nydailynews.com
All three of the panels that upset first responders have now been changed.
The 9/11 Museum has replaced three panels that cast doubt on the link between toxic dust around Ground Zero and the subsequent health problems of thousands who worked near the site after the attack.
Last month the Daily News reported complaints about the panels by groups that represent 9/11 first responders and survivors.
Under the Zadroga Act, enacted in 2011, tens of thousands of people have received federal aid for health problems, including cancer, that doctors have certified as linked to toxic smoke and dust that lingered in the air after the attack.
But a museum exhibit titled "After 9/11" treated the connection between the air and the health issues as less certain than the federal government does.
One panel referred to the Zadroga Act as providing aid for "for those with health conditions claimed to be related" to the attack. Another said federal and city officials faced criticism for "allegedly" providing bad information about the air quality in lower Manhattan. A third panel cited a finding that dust around the site was "hazardous."The museum has been criticized by advocates for survivors and the families of victims.
A museum official said Thursday that the institution quietly replaced the offending panels in recent weeks. The new panels are similar but exclude the phrases "claimed to be" and "allegedly."
The word...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]
All three of the panels that upset first responders have now been changed.
The 9/11 Museum has replaced three panels that cast doubt on the link between toxic dust around Ground Zero and the subsequent health problems of thousands who worked near the site after the attack.
Last month the Daily News reported complaints about the panels by groups that represent 9/11 first responders and survivors.
Under the Zadroga Act, enacted in 2011, tens of thousands of people have received federal aid for health problems, including cancer, that doctors have certified as linked to toxic smoke and dust that lingered in the air after the attack.
But a museum exhibit titled "After 9/11" treated the connection between the air and the health issues as less certain than the federal government does.
One panel referred to the Zadroga Act as providing aid for "for those with health conditions claimed to be related" to the attack. Another said federal and city officials faced criticism for "allegedly" providing bad information about the air quality in lower Manhattan. A third panel cited a finding that dust around the site was "hazardous."The museum has been criticized by advocates for survivors and the families of victims.
A museum official said Thursday that the institution quietly replaced the offending panels in recent weeks. The new panels are similar but exclude the phrases "claimed to be" and "allegedly."
The word...
[Click here to see the rest of this post]
….
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.
Friday, September 5, 2014
9/11 Responders Urged To Register For Workers’ Compensation Benefits
| Next week marks the anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy. Many workers' who may be entitled to benefits have not yet enrolled. Today's post is shared from cbslocal.com Elected officials and union activists are urging Sept. 11 responders to sign up for New York workers’ compensation benefits. They say that those who worked around the World Trade Center site should enroll with the state Workers’ Compensation Board. Next Thursday, the 13th anniversary of the terror attacks, is the deadline to sign up. The officials said even people who are not sick should register because it preserves their right to get benefits in the future if they do fall ill. It also is open to workers who live in other states. Rep. Jerrold Nadler said that “those who have paid such a high price” deserve compensation. “This does not mean that you are injured or ill now, but it does preserve your ability to file a claim later,” Nadler said. Nadler was joined at Friday’s City Hall press conference by representatives of several unions, including DC 37 and the Laborers Local 78. As WCBS 880’s Jim Smith reported, Reverend Bill Minson spent months in and around ground zero working as a chaplain. He’s not sick now, but knows the air was like a ticking time bomb. “An incubation period for many of these cancers and things can’t be calculated,” he said. ... |
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
GAO Report on Adding Cancers to WTC Covered Conditions
Next week marks the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States including the World Trade Center. The program for medical surveillance and compensation continues to proceed to benefit first responders and those in the immediate area of the New York City attack on 9-11.
Today's post is shared from cdc.gov
Today's post is shared from cdc.gov
The World Trade Center (WTC) Health Program was established by the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 (Act), and is administered by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The Program provides medical monitoring and treatment at no cost for enrolled responders at the WTC and related sites in New York City, Pentagon, and Shanksville, PA. It also provides services for enrolled survivors who were in the New York City disaster area. Health conditions, such as types of cancer, can be added to the list of WTC-related covered conditions after a valid petition has been received and the scientific evidence for causation by exposures at the attack sites is analyzed.
In September of 2011, the Administrator of the WTC Health Program, Dr. John Howard, received a petition from nine New York members of Congress asking him to consider adding cancer to the List. The Administrator reviewed the petition and requested the advice of the WTC Scientific/Technical Advisory Committee (STAC), which provided recommendations to add specific types of cancer. After reviewing the STAC’s recommendation, evaluating the available science, and considering public comment on a proposed rule, in 2012 the Administrator published a final rule which added certain types of cancer to the List and explained the approach used to add the types of cancer.
Recently, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) evaluated the World Trade Center Health Program’s approach to adding cancers to the List [see:http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-14-606
]. The GAO found that the Administrator used a hazard-based, multiple-method approach to determine whether to add cancers to the WTCHP list of covered conditions for which treatment may be provided. Experts who participated in a meeting held by GAO indicated that the Administrator’s approach was reasonable but could be improved. The GAO reports:
]. The GAO found that the Administrator used a hazard-based, multiple-method approach to determine whether to add cancers to the WTCHP list of covered conditions for which treatment may be provided. Experts who participated in a meeting held by GAO indicated that the Administrator’s approach was reasonable but could be improved. The GAO reports:- According to these experts, a hazard-based approach focuses on identifying whether particular “hazards”—sources of potential harm—are associated with certain health conditions, and does not attempt to quantify the risks of developing those health conditions. The Administrator’s approach used four methods to determine whether there was an association between a September 11 exposure and a specific cancer, and thus, whether to add that cancer to the list.
- The experts considered the approach reasonable given the WTCHP certification process for enrollees to obtain coverage for treatment for a condition on the list, the lack of data related to exposure levels and risks, and the use of similar approaches by previous federal compensation programs.
- The experts indicated the approach could have been communicated more clearly. For example, the description of the approach in rulemaking did not clearly articulate how decisions would be made when evidence under one method supported adding a cancer type to the list, and evidence under a different method did not. The Administrator noted that this omission was an oversight. Since the Administrator plans to use the same approach in future cancer-related decision making, the absence of a clear description can lead to questions about the credibility and equity of the program.
- According to the experts, an independent peer review process similar to that used in other federal compensation programs could improve the approach. According to the Administrator, this was not feasible due to time constraints imposed by law. A process through which an independent party assesses the validity of the information upon which decisions are being made and that rationales for decisions are clearly described could help ensure the credibility of the Administrator’s approach.
Monday, September 1, 2014
GM ignition switch compensation program receives more than 300 claims, including 107 death-related
| DETROIT, MI- The General Motors Co. ignition switch compensation program has received 309 claims through Monday, including 107 related to fatal accidents. Camille S. Biros, of Feinberg Rozen LLP, which is overseeing the program for the Detroit-based automaker, said payments to eligible victims and their families are expected to be finalized by the end of September. She said the number of claims filed has no correlation to the amount of individuals expected to be paid through the program, which could cost GM hundreds of millions of dollars. The voluntary compensation program was announced by GM and renowned compensation attorney Kenneth Feinberg in late-June. There is no financial cap on the program and everyone that meets stringent guidelines set by Feinberg are eligible for the program. Feinberg Rozen started accepting claims Aug. 1. It will continue accepting claims through Dec. 31. GM has linked the faulty ignition switches to at least 13 deaths and 54 crashes, but others, including victims' family members and lawyers, say the death toll is closer to 100. GM has said its numbers could increase based on Feinberg's findings because it only included those involved in front-end collisions. Kenneth Feinberg, the independent claims administrator for the GM Ignition Compensation Program, announces the details of the program, including eligibility, scope, rules for the program, and timing of submitting claims, during a news... |
Thursday, August 14, 2014
WTC cleanup workers may renew health claims -U.S. appeals court
| Today's post is shared from Reuters.com A federal appeals court in New York has revived claims by 211 cleanup workers who sought compensation for their alleged exposure to toxic contaminants in buildings near the World Trade Center site after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday said a lower court judge erred in dismissing the claims, after the workers had answered "none" when asked if they had been "diagnosed" with ailments, injuries or diseases. These workers were employed by cleaning companies hired by Verizon Communications Inc, Brookfield Properties and dozens of other owners of downtown Manhattan buildings damaged or destroyed in the attacks, the court said. "The fact that plaintiffs answered 'none' to the interrogatory was an insufficient basis, by itself, for a blanket conclusion that all 211 plaintiffs could not establish their claims against defendants as a matter of law," Circuit Judge Denny Chin wrote for a three-judge 2nd Circuit panel. Thursday's decision overturned an August 2012 dismissal of the claims by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan, who oversees much of the Sept. 11 litigation. Verizon spokesman Bob Varettoni had no immediate comment. Lawyers for the phone company and the other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. "I applaud the 2nd Circuit for having the ability and desire to do the right thing," Marc Bern, a lawyer for the workers, said in... |
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Workplace Exposures and the National Action Plan for Infertility
 Infertility is a significant health issue in the U.S. as well as globally. In addition to the large health and fiscal impacts of infertility, the inability to conceive can be devastating to individuals or couples. Research suggest that between 12% and 18% of couples struggle with infertility,[1] which may be caused by a wide variety of factors including genetic abnormalities, aging, acute and chronic diseases, treatments for certain conditions, behavioral factors, and exposure to environmental, occupational, and infectious hazards. However, many questions about infertility remain unanswered. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the National Public Health Action Plan for the Detection, Prevention and Management of Infertility. This plan was created in consultation with many governmental and nongovernmental partners. NIOSH contributed to this Action Plan, specifically related to reducing exposures to occupational agents that can harm reproductive health and fertility in women and men. Environmental and occupational hazards account for an unknown proportion of infertility cases, but are known to affect reproductive health and fertility in women and men, and suspected of causing declining human sperm quality in industrialized countries.[2], [3], [4] An evaluation conducted in developed countries in the 1980s by the World Health Organization (WHO) found that 37% of infertility cases were attributable to female factors, 8% were attributable to... |
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Report: Number Of Ground Zero Cancer Cases Skyrocketing
| Today's post is shared from CBSNewYork.com There has been a dramatic increase in the number of 9/11 rescuers and responders with cancer in the past year, according to a published report. The New York Post says that Mount Sinai Hospital’s World Trade Center Health Program reported 1,140 cancer cases last year. Now the number is up to more than 2,500. Among the cancers being diagnosed at a much higher rate than the general population: prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, leukemia and multiple myeloma. The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund is expected to receive more claims by the Oct. 14 deadline. So far, there are 1,145 claims listing cancer. You May Also Be Interested In These Stories |
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