NFL moving closer to using helmet sensors

Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from profootballtalk.nbcsports.com

With the NFL’s concussion liability regarding retired players on the way to being extinguished via settlement, the league can now focus on taking additional steps to limit liability to its current and future players. After months of delay, the NFL could soon be putting sensors in helmets. “Our goal is that by midseason we will have some teams geared up,” Kevin Guskiewicz, a University of North Carolina researcher and a member of the NFL’s Head, Neck and Spine Committee, said at a Wednesday event in Baltimore, via USA Today.  “We’re getting close, and I think that we have some teams identified.” The NFL previously had been chasing its tail regarding helmet sensors, with the league referring questions from ESPN regarding the league’s failure to use helmet sensors to Guskiewicz, who was publicly advocating the use of helmet sensors. Guskiewicz spoke openly in June 2012 about giving up on the effort to use sensors if the sensors weren’t used within the coming year.  At that same time, former Steelers receiver and current NBC analyst Hines Ward expressed concern about the approach. “You’re gonna open up a while Pandora’s Box with it,” Ward told ESPN.  “For a doctor to read a computer and tell me how hard I’ve been hit and to pull me out of a game, that won’t sit well with a lot of players.” It won’t, because many players want to try to persuade...

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Lobbyists: Postal Service will try to hike stamp price

Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from thehill.com

The troubled United States Postal Service is likely to vote to raise its prices at a Thursday meeting of its Board of Governors, according to top Washington lobbyists opposed to the hike. Greeting Card Association lobbyist Rafe Morrissey told reporters Wednesday that he expects the USPS to try to increase price of the 46 cent first-class stamp by 3 cents. That would consist of a 2 cent increase on top of a 1 cent inflation adjustment already expected in January. The magazine industry is anticipating as much as a double-digit increase for periodicals, another lobbyist source said. Currently, magazine postal rates average 27 cents per magazine. The Board vote would start a process of seeking emergency price-raising powers from the Postal Regulatory Commission. Congress under current law does not have a role in the process, but both the House and Senate are weighing overhauls of the USPS. “The Board seems to me moving down the path of filing an exigent case,” Morrissey said. “We don’t think that is part of a common-sense or sustainable solution.” He argued that the rate increase along with proposed reductions in service such as the end of Saturday delivery would only contribute to a agency's death spiral. The Greeting Card Association wants Congress to adjust the formula by which the USPS prefunds the future health benefits for its retirees and for it to consider delivering mail to curbside cluster boxes rather than individual...

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Procter & Gamble Eliminating Phthalates, Triclosan from Products Worldwide

Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from www.safecosmetics.org

Procter & Gamble Eliminating Phthalates, Triclosan from Products WorldwideSafe cosmetics activists pressure other companies to stop using toxic chemicals in personal care products, fragrances Due to public pressure and growing concerns about the safety of chemicals found in common cosmetics, household cleaners and fragranced products, Procter & Gamble (P&G) will achieve total elimination of the toxic chemicals triclosan and diethyl phthalate (DEP) from all its products by 2014, according to an announcement on the company's website. P&G is the worlds largest manufacturer of consumer products, home to iconic brands including Cover Girl, Tide, Crest and Ivory. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics congratulates P&G for taking bold and globally-significant action to protect the health of its 4.8 billion consumers by eliminating two dangerous toxic chemicalstriclosan and DEPfrom all its products, said Janet Nudelman, program director at the Breast Cancer Fund and co-founder of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has been urging companies to eliminate phthalates from personal care products since 2002. Because of this pressure, many cosmetics companies have stopped using two dangerous phthalates, DBP and DEHP, but the industry has continued to widely use DEP in fragrance. P&G is taking an important step in the right direction, said Nudelman. Major multinational cosmetic companies have no...

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Judge Says Search Warrants for E-mails Must Be ‘Limited’

Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from bits.blogs.nytimes.com

Can law enforcement obtain a search warrant to dig through a vast trove of e-mails, instant messages and chat logs because they have reasonable suspicion that the owners of those accounts robbed computer equipment from a private company? No, according to a ruling by a federal judge in Kansas earlier this week. The case is significant in that it limits what constitutes unreasonable search and seizure, as protected by the Fourth Amendment, in the age of big data. The magistrate judge, David J. Waxse, denied the government’s search warrant requests on the grounds that it has to be particular and “reasonable in nature of breadth.” Orin Kerr, a law professor at George Washington University and an expert on surveillance law, interpreted it this way on Twitter: “You can’t look through the kitchen sink to get the evidence, as you do with physical searches.” Prosecutors sought search warrants to extract information from Verizon, an Internet service provider, GoDaddy, a Web site hosting company, along with Web communications companies Google, Skype and Yahoo on account holders suspected of having stolen $5,000 in computer equipment from Sprint. The government believed that the suspects used e-mail and instant-message accounts to “facilitate the purchase, receipt and transportation of the equipment” from Kansas to New Jersey. The government sought “contents of all emails, instant messages and chat logs/sessions — and other...

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Ex-NFL Player Loses Workers' Comp Appeal Against Steelers

Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from www.law360.com

A former defensive end with the Pittsburgh Steelers football team lost his bid for workers’ compensation Thursday after the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court found that a 2004 injury that ended his season did not result in a loss of earnings despite his never playing professionally again. A three-judge panel agreed that testimony from a pair of orthopedic surgeons who treated Ainsley Battles after a season-ending hamstring tear in 2004 proved that the player sufficiently recovered from the injury to continue pursuing his football career prior to his ultimate retirement in 2006. “Both doctors agreed that claimant’s injury would not prevent him from playing professional football, and neither doctor suggested that claimant’s injury caused a loss in earning power after he completed his rehabilitation,” the court ruled in a decision penned by Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt. Battles had asked the Commonwealth Court to overturn a decision by the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board which found that the Steelers had no duty to pay the player for disability following the injury. Battles, who previously played for the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills before signing a one-year contract with the Steelers, tore his hamstring in his first game with the team in September 2004. According to court records, Battles was cleared to...

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Business Groups Call For More Changes To Workers' Compensation Laws

Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from northernpublicradio.org

Despite a drop in the rate of workers' compensation insurance, Illinois businesses say the system is still too burdensome. In 2011, Illinois changed its workers' compensation laws.  The state Department of Insurance, the governor and others say  the changes worked: the workers' comp insurance rate is down 4.5 percent. Kim Maisch is a lobbyist representing the state association for small, independent businesses. "We need to go a lot faster towards greater reform, and we certainly need to make sure the politicians know the job is not done," Maisch said. Maisch says there should be more protections for businesses -- like making workers prove an injury really happened on the job rather than during off hours. Rep. Dwight Kay (R-Glen Carbon) says Illinois' rates are still too high. "We still are not competitive with the states around us with regard to reforming our workers' compensation system," Kay said. Kay says most of the savings comes from paying doctors less for treating injured workers, and he doesn't consider that "reform." He says Illinois needs to make employees prove an injury happened on the job before forcing a company to pay a settlement. But his proposed changes didn't gain any traction in the General Assembly. Unions have fought that change, saying a higher burden of proof is unfair to workers. Illinois Public Radio's Amanda Vinicky contributed to this report.

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9th Circuit Vacates MSP Injunction Against CMS for Medicare Reimbursement

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated a Federal District Court Order enjoying CMS from seeking reimbursement for Medicare Conditional Payments under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act (MSP).

The Court held that it lacked jurisdiction:

"... we conclude that the
beneficiaries' claim was not adequately presented to the
agency at the administrative level and therefore the district
court lacked subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 42 U.S.C.§ 405(g) .

***

" Federal question jurisdiction does not extend to most
claims arising under the Medicare Act. The Medicare Act
incorporates 42 U.S .C. § 405(h) , which provides:
No findings of fact or decision of the
[Secretary] ... shall be reviewed by
any person, tribunal, or governmental
agency except as herein provided.
No action against the United States,
the [Secretary] ..., or any officer or
employee thereof shall be brought
under section 1331  ... of title 28  torecover on any claim arising under this
subchapter.
42 U.S.C. § 405(h) ; 42 U.S.C. § 1395ii .

****

 "We decline to adopt the extraordinarily broad reading of
Eldridge  that the beneficiaries invite. We conclude that the
named plaintiffs' reimbursement disputes did not provide an
opportunity for the Secretary to consider the claim that her
interpretation of the secondary payer provisions exceeded
her authority. Their requests for redetermination of their
respective amounts of reimbursement did not constitute
presentment of their policy challenge.

***

" We conclude that the beneficiaries' claim was
not presented to the agency. Because presentment is a
jurisdictional requirement under § 405(g) , the district court
lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the beneficiaries'
claim. 

Haro v Sebelius, ___F.3d____, No. 11-16606, 2013 WL 4734032, Decided Sept.4, 2013.

Read prior posting about this case:

Federal Court Enjoins CMS From MSP Recovery Procedures

May 18, 2011

Haro v. Sebelius, 2010 WL 1452942 (A. Ariz.) CV 09-134 TUC DCB, Decided April 12, 2010.The plaintiffs were permitted discovery beyond the administrative record. The class action is challenging the recovery procedures of ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: Halted: Medicare Secondary Payer ...

May 25, 2011

The MSPRC is still working cases, and the RAR and Demand letters will be mailed out once appropriate revisions have been made." This follows a recent US District Court ruling enjoining CMS's collection procedures. Haro v.

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). 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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Train Industry Allies in U.S. Senate Move to Delay Deadline for Crash-Prevention Technology

Today's post was shared by FairWarning and comes from www.fairwarning.org

Prodded by railroads, four lawmakers introduce bill to postpone deadline for installing high-tech safety systems. The systems, known as Positive Train Control or PTC, aim to override human error and avert deadly collisions like the Chatsworth, Calif., commuter train crash that killed 25 people in 2008. Railroads are mandated to have PTC by the end of 2015 on trains carrying passengers or extremely hazardous materials such as chlorine. But, as FairWarning reported last year, the industry has pushed hard to relax the requirement and win more time to add the costly technology.  Four senators who have received political contributions from the industry recently introduced a bill to extend the deadline another five to seven years, until at least 2020. The National Transportation Safety Board has called for the safety measures for more than two decades. Over the last decade, the agency has investigated 27 train crashes that killed 63 people that it says PTC could have prevented. The Associated Press Federal poultry inspection proposal based on bad data, investigators say. The U.S. Department of Agriculture relied on incomplete and outdated data for its plan to extend a poultry inspection program to plants across the country, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. The new procedures, piloted at 29 sites since 1998, let plants dramatically speed up processing lines and replace many government inspectors with poultry company employees, which...

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). 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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Out of sight, out of mind: Carcinogenic chemical spreads beneath Michigan town

Today's post was shared by FairWarning and comes from www.environmentalhealthnews.org

When state and federal environmental officials visited the tucked-away town of Mancelona, Mich., 15 years ago, their presence surprised local residents. “My heart and most of my life has been spent here in Antrim County,” said Gary Knapp, a long-time resident. “And I knew nothing of its environmental problems.”While removing metal contamination from local groundwater, officials had stumbled upon one of the nation’s largest plumes of an industrial solvent called trichloroethylene, or TCE. Drinking-water wells tap into this aquifer, so the state asked the town’s help in preventing the chemical from flowing out of people’s taps.“People were helpless, frustrated and angry,” said Knapp, who was recruited by the state to start a regional water authority.Fifteen years later, the underground plume of the carcinogenic chemical is now six miles long and continues to grow.Over the past decade, new wells have been built and millions of dollars have been spent to ensure the 1,390 residents of Mancelona – known for its deer-hunting contests and bass festivals – aren’t drinking toxic water. But the TCE swirling beneath this remote, low-income town continues to vex state officials and residents as it creeps toward new wells that Knapp and others dug to replace tainted ones. The plume is another industrial scar in Michigan – one that is seemingly not going away.“There’s no silver bullet to take care...

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

Related articles

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• Improving Chemical Facility Safety and Security (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Safety and Health Topics: Heat Stress (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
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WOMEN'S SAFETY AND HEALTH ISSUES AT WORK

Today's post was shared by Safe Healthy Workers and comes from www.cdc.gov

Over half the children born in the United States are born to working mothers.1 Many NIOSH studies were done to learn whether women may have reproductive health hazards that may be related to their work environment. NIOSH Publications The Effects of Workplace Hazards on Female Reproductive Health DHHS (NIOSH) Pub. No. 99-104 (1999) EnEspañol Related Resources A longitudinal analysis of total workload and women's health after childbirth This study involved employed women who were recruited while hospitalized for childbirth. Results included that the time spent on paid and unpaid work was associated with significantly poorer mental health and increased postpartum symptoms during the first year after childbirth. Earlier age at menopause, work, and tobacco smoke exposure Among women older than 25, earlier age at menopause was found among all smokers and among service and manufacturing industry sector workers. Women (particularly black women) age 25 to 50 had an increased risk of earlier age at menopause with both primary smoking and second-hand smoke (SHS) exposure. Control of SHS exposure in the workplace may decrease the risk of death and illness associated with earlier age at menopause in US women workers. Workplace Safety and Women (Podcast) (Running time: 7:41) This women's health podcast focuses on four important issues for women at work: job stress, work schedules, reproductive health,...

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

Related articles

• OSHA and NIOSH issue hazard alert on 1-bromopropane (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• The Importance of Occupational Safety and Health: Making for a "Super" Workplace (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Respirators Are Not Enough: New Study Examines Worker Exposure to Silica in Hydraulic Fracturing Operations (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Guidelines for Preventing Workplace Violence for Health Care & Social Service Workers (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Who Is Paying the Bills for Occupational Illnesses and Disease? (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Long Overdue Silica Dust Rule Issued, Final Action Must Be Swift, Says Trumka (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• A Victory for Silica Dust Exposed Workers? (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

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NIOSH Research on Work Schedules and Work-related Sleep Loss

Today's post was shared by Safe Healthy Workers and comes from blogs.cdc.gov

Yesterday, in honor of National Sleep Awareness Week, we blogged about sleep and work and the risks to workers, employers, and the public when workers’ hours and shifts do not allow for adequate sleep.   This blog provides a brief overview of some of the work that NIOSH intramural scientists are carrying out to better understand these risks and ways to prevent them. Nurses/Reproduction Issues/Shift Work NIOSH studies are examining shift work and physical demands with respect to adverse pregnancy outcome among nurses, specifically the association between work schedule and risk of spontaneous abortion, preterm birth, and menstrual function.  This research was the first to look at shift work and pregnancy in U. S. nurses.  NIOSH researchers are collaborating with the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study, which is the largest, ongoing prospective study of nurses. Results have shown that an increased risk of several reproductive outcomes, including spontaneous abortion, early preterm birth, and menstrual cycle irregularities, are related to shift work, particularly working the night shift. In addition, results show independent effects on reproductive outcomes from long working hours.  The study hopes to establish a cohort of over 100,000 female nurses of...

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). 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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Confirmed: Fracking practices to blame for Ohio earthquakes

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

Wastewater from the controversial practice of fracking appears to be linked to all the earthquakes in a town in Ohio that had no known past quakes, research now reveals. The practice of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves injecting water, sand and other materials under high pressures into a well to fracture rock. This opens up fissures that help oil and natural gas flow out more freely. This process generates wastewater that is often pumped underground as well, in order to get rid of it. A furious debate has erupted over the safety of the practice. Advocates claim fracking is a safe, economical source of clean energy, while critics argue that it can taint drinking water supplies, among other problems. One of the most profitable areas for fracking lies over the geological formation known as the Marcellus Shale, which reaches deep underground from Ohio and West Virginia northeast into Pennsylvania and southern New York. The Marcellus Shale is rich in natural gas; geologists estimate it may contain up to 489 trillion cubic feet (13.8 trillion cubic meters) of natural gas, more than 440 times the amount New York State uses annually. Many of the rural communities living over the formation face economic challenges and want to attract money from the energy industry. Youngstown quakesBefore January 2011, Youngstown, Ohio, which is located on the Marcellus Shale, had never experienced an earthquake, at least not since researchers began observations in 1776....

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). 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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• Lots of data to process for Calif. lead paint judge (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Respirators Are Not Enough: New Study Examines Worker Exposure to Silica in Hydraulic Fracturing Operations (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
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Domestic Workers Treaty Goes Into Force

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.hrw.org

A groundbreaking global treaty on the rights of domestic workers goes into legal effect on September 5, 2013, offering vital protections to millions of workers around the world, Human Rights Watch said today. Governments should promptly act to ratify and enforce the Convention concerning Decent Work for Domestic Workers (the Domestic Workers Convention), Human Rights Watch said. The Domestic Workers Convention, No. 189, adopted by International Labour Organization (ILO) members in 2011, sets standards for the estimated 50 to 100 million domestic workers worldwide – mostly women and girls – who perform essential household work in private homes. These workers cook, clean, and provide care for children and the elderly, but in many countries are excluded from basic labor law protections. Domestic workers face a wide range of human rights violations, including excessive working hours without rest, non-payment of wages, forced confinement, physical and sexual abuse, forced labor, and trafficking. “Domestic workers are among the most abused and exploited workers in the world,” said Gauri van Gulik, women’s rights advocate at Human Rights Watch. “With the Domestic Workers Convention now coming into effect, millions of women and girls will have a chance for safer working conditions and better lives.” Under the treaty, domestic workers are entitled to protections available to other workers, including weekly days off, limits...

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). 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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• Speed Camera Enforcement Will Begin on Sepember 9th, the First Day of School (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
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Probability of Cancer in Pulmonary Nodules Detected on First Screening CT

Today's post was shared by NEJM and comes from www.nejm.org

Major issues in the implementation of screening for lung cancer by means of low-dose computed tomography (CT) are the definition of a positive result and the management of lung nodules detected on the scans. We conducted a population-based prospective study to determine factors predicting the probability that lung nodules detected on the first screening low-dose CT scans are malignant or will be found to be malignant on follow-up. Methods We analyzed data from two cohorts of participants undergoing low-dose CT screening. The development data set included participants in the Pan-Canadian Early Detection of Lung Cancer Study (PanCan). The validation data set included participants involved in chemoprevention trials at the British Columbia Cancer Agency (BCCA), sponsored by the U.S. National Cancer Institute. The final outcomes of all nodules of any size that were detected on baseline low-dose CT scans were tracked. Parsimonious and fuller multivariable logistic-regression models were prepared to estimate the probability of lung cancer. Results In the PanCan data set, 1871 persons had 7008 nodules, of which 102 were malignant, and in the BCCA data set, 1090 persons had 5021 nodules, of which 42 were malignant. Among persons with nodules, the rates of cancer in the two data sets were 5.5% and 3.7%, respectively. Predictors of cancer in the model included older age, female sex, family history of lung cancer, emphysema, larger nodule size, location of the nodule in the...

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Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). 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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Italian Plant’s Abrupt Shutdown Stirs a Debate

Today's post was shared by The New York Times and comes from www.nytimes.com

Like it or not, Italy’s labor force recognizes that the long manufacturing slump may make factory closings inevitable. But this, they say, is no way to do it. At the start of August, the 30 workers of Hydronic Lift, an elevator components company, wished one another well and left on long-planned summer vacations. But when they returned to work three weeks later, they found the gates bolted with chains and padlocks. The company has not disclosed its plans. “Not to be emotional, but if a worker goes on holiday with the fear that he might not come back to a job, well, that can cause serious damage to one’s peace of mind,” Alberto Larghi of the metalworkers’ trade union said. “Events like this can ruin vacations for all workers.” It was only the latest in a headline-grabbing series of factory closures in Italy that the metalworkers’ union, FIOM-CGIL, which represents the workers at Hydronic Lift, denounced as the “popular sport among businessmen in the summer of 2013: transforming the summer shutdown into a definitive termination, with no forewarning, taking advantage that the employees are absent.” Summer sport is a bit of an overstatement; there have been only a handful of cases, including a factory near Modena where the boss moved the production line for electronic components to Poland under the cover of the August doldrums. But they have stirred a national debate in a country struggling to...

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Study: Healthcare-linked infections cost US $10 billion a year

Today's post was shared by CIDRAP and comes from www.cidrap.umn.edu

Five of the most common, costly, and preventable healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) cost the United States nearly $10 billion per year, according to a meta-analysis of 27 years' worth of data by a team from Harvard Medical School and affiliated institutions. The team reviewed data spanning 1986 to 2013 concerning surgical site infections (SSIs), central line–associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), and Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs), according to their report, released yesterday by JAMA Internal Medicine. For HAI incidence estimates, the investigators used the National Healthcare Safety Network of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which includes 1,700 reporting sites. By conducting a systematic literature review, the team found 26 studies that provided "reasonably robust" estimates of attributable costs and/or length of stay for HAIs. The overall cost of the HAIs was estimated at $9.8 billion annually.  On a per-case basis, CLABSIs were found to be the most expensive HAI at $45,814 each, followed by VAP, $40,144; SSIs, $20,785; CDIs, $11,285; and CAUTIs, $896, the report says. SSIs, however, accounted for the largest share of costs, at 33.7%. The second largest contributor was VAP, at 31.6%, followed by CLABSIs, 18.9%; CDIs, 15.4%; and CAUTIs, less than 1%. "While quality improvement initiatives have decreased HAI...

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