Shimano American Recalls Disc Brake Calipers Due to Collision Hazard

Today's post was shared by U.S. CPSC and comes from www.cpsc.gov

Consumers should stop using this product unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product. Recall Details In conjunction with Units About 6,600 in U.S. and 704 in Canada Description This recall includes all Shimano BR-CX75 aftermarket disc brake calipers and BR-R515 disc brake calipers installed on road and cyclocross bicycles sold by other manufacturers including BMC, Giant, Ibis, Raleigh, Shinola, Specialized and Volagi. “Shimano,” “China” and the model number are embossed on the outside of the brake caliper. Both models have either black or silver finishes.    Incidents/Injuries None reported.   Remedy Consumers should immediately stop using the bicycles with recalled Shimano brakes and contact a Shimano authorized dealer to receive a free installation and replacement of the calipers.    Sold at Bicycle specialty stores and dealers nationwide from February 2012 through May 2013 for about $75 for the BR-CX75 model disc brake calipers and the BR-R515 model disc brake calipers price was included in the cost of the bicycles where installed. Manufacturer Shimano American Corporation, of Irvine, Calif.  Manufactured in China The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about your experience with the...

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Feds add prostate cancer to list of 9/11 health-related conditions

Today's post was shared by Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano and comes from www.nydailynews.com

Prostate cancer has been added to the list of World Trade Center-related health conditions. The federal Department of Health and Human Services added the cancer to its register Thursday after being petitioned by the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, the city police officers union. The union cited a scientific study that found a 17% greater than expected rate of prostate cancer among first responders. The addition will cost the WTC Health Program an estimated $3 million to $6 million a year. “It’s a minor victory for the 9/11 community and a huge victory for those with prostate cancer,” said John Feal, who advocated for the Zadroga 9/11 health bill, named for NYPD officer James Zadroga, who died of respiratory problems following his rescue efforts at Ground Zero. Corinne Lestch

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Prostate Cancer: Now on the 9-11 Fund Compensable List

Prostate Cancer has now been approved as a compensable condition for benefits for those who are eligible to claim benefits from the 9-11 Health Claim Fund. The deadline to claim benefits for some, October 3, 2013, is rapidly approaching.

Click here for more information for about filing a claim.

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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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What is the Date Last Insured, and Why Does it Matter?

Today's post comes from guest author Susan C. Andrews, from Causey Law Firm.

A person who has been out of the labor market for quite some time before he applies for Social Security Disability (SSD) may find that his application for benefits is rejected because he cannot prove he became disabled before his date last insured.  

In order to qualify for benefits in the first place, a person must pay Social Security taxes long enough to have insured status. When the individual stops working and therefore stops paying into the system, eventually he will hit his date last insured and lose his insured status. It is a little like a private insurance policy: when you stop paying the premiums, you no longer are covered by the policy.  For a person who has work steadily in his lifetime, the date last insured is arrived at and insured status lapses about five years after stopping work.

 The Social Security Administration has another program for the medically disabled called Supplemental Security Income (SSI) where there is no date last insured rule, but there are other program requirements and limitations. In a future article, we will explore the differences between the Social Security Disability (SSD) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs.   

     As an example of how the date last insured issue can prevent a person from getting Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits, consider the case of a 35 year-old woman who has worked steadily since her late teens. She and her husband have twins when she is in her mid-30s. There are a lot of late night feedings and diapers to change! She stays home to take care of the twins while her husband continues to work to support the family. When the twins turn five, she begins to think about returning to work, perhaps when they go into first grade a year or so later. Five years has passed, and she reaches her date last insured. She loses her insured status and has not yet returned to work. When the twins turn six, she gears up her job search, but has not yet re-entered the labor market. Then medical catastrophe strikes: she has a very disabling stroke – unusual in a person this young, but not unheard of. She clearly cannot work. She applies for Social Security Disability and is turned down because she did not become disabled before her date last insured. Unlike the Social Security Retirement program, where it is possible to collect Social Security Retirement (SSR) benefits on the earnings record of one’s spouse, the Social Security Disability program only allows for benefits to be paid on the basis of one’s own earnings record.

     Consider another scenario with this family of four. When the twins are three, mom is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. This condition can progress slowly or more quickly. In her case, she suffers a fairly quick progression of symptoms. By the time the twins are six and going into first grade, she is ready to return to work, except that she is suffering a variety of MS symptoms, including the profound fatigue that is experienced by many with this disease. Her combination of symptoms prevents her from working, so she applies for Social Security Disability. She passed her date last insured when the twins turned five. Will she get benefits? That depends. She certainly can apply for benefits after her date last insured, but she must be able to show that her symptoms had become sufficiently severe to prevent her from working before her date last insured. We have handled many cases where the individual is out past his or her date last insured. The key is to obtain all of the medical records that help to document the seriousness of the medical condition before that date last insured. Sometimes these can be buttressed with statements from family members or close friends who were in a position to observe at close range how seriously the person’s medical condition was affecting her functioning prior to the date last insured. In the case above, a statement from the husband likely would be helpful.

     The Social Security Administration has another program for the medically disabled called Supplemental Security Income (SSI) where there is no date last insured rule, but there are other program requirements and limitations. In a future article, we will explore the differences between the Social Security Disability (SSD) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. 

Photo credit: Јerry / Foter.com / CC BY

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Medical Costs Still Treading Upward

The cost of medical treatment in workers' compensation claims, despite a resumed trend in lower claims, is continuing to increase.

View complete report: NCCI Workers Compensation Claim Frequency—2013 Update 

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Oklahoma Work Comp Opt-Out System Under Legal Attack

The recently enacted, and high innovated cost-savings opt-out program in Oklahoma workers' compensation has come under direct legal attack as being unconstitutional.

On Tuesday, Sen. Harry Coates (R-Seminole) joined Rep. Emily Virgin (D-Norman) and the Professional Firefighters of Oklahoma in filing a challenge against the constitutionality of Senate Bill 1062, the workers’ compensation reform bill passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Fallin during the 2013 legislative session.

“As a longtime businessman, I recognize that it’s necessary to have workers’ compensation rates as low as possible. In fact, I believe we need a workers’ compensation administrative system, just not the unconstitutional and unworkable system created by Senate Bill 1062.

It’s wrong that a fire fighter or any other injured worker should have to pay back benefits after returning to work. This is just one of many problems with this new law.

Instead, I’d support a bill that would give Oklahoma an administrative system like that in Missouri, which is working very well only a few years after being approved by that legislature. Back in 2005 when Missouri went to an administrative system, The Oklahoman advised the Oklahoma legislature to adopt the Missouri workers’ compensation system. That was good advice!

In 2012, the often-quoted Oregon Study showed that while Oklahoma had the sixth highest workers’ compensation rates in the nation, Missouri had one of the lowest rankings at number 36. Oklahoma was 47 percent ABOVE the national median and Missouri was 14 percent BELOW the study median.
Oklahoma needs to pass the Missouri law with no amendments and no changes. Missouri and Oklahoma have similar constitutional provisions regarding injuries, and the Missouri law has already survived constitutional tests. There is no doubt that their administrative system could work in Oklahoma and reduce rates for businesses, small and large.

I appreciate Rep. Emily Virgin and the Professional Firefighters of Oklahoma for joining me in this effort.”

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BP claims investigation finds attorney took $40K kickback in exchange for expediting nearly $8M claim

Today's post was shared by Legal Newsline and comes from legalnewsline.com

The results of a two-month long investigation into allegations of fraud within the 2010 oil spill settlement program have revealed an alleged kickback scheme enacted by a claims attorney. Lionel Sutton, a former senior attorney within the Court Supervised Settlement Program, or CSSP, is accused of taking a $40,000 referral fee from the Andry Lerner Law Firm and attempted to more quickly resolve a claim worth $7,908,460. The New Orleans firm, which bills itself as “BP Oil Spill Lawyers” on the firm website, is accused of using Sutton’s position within the claims center to make the acceptance of the claim in question faster and easier. Freeh The investigation was headed by ex-FBI Director Louis B. Freeh who was asked to be a special investigator on the case by U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier in early July after claims administrator Patrick Juneau revealed that an internal investigation into the CSSP showed potential conflicts of interest. The $7.9 million claim in question was originally a case handled by Christine Reitano, Sutton’s wife, who shortly after receiving the case became an employee of the claims administration office. Subsequent to her appointment Sutton is alleged to have referred the case to the Andry Lerner Law Firm for a referral fee to be paid to Crown LLC, a water reclamation company he owned and in which Andry Lerner partner Glen Lerner had invested $1 million. Freeh stated in the report that...

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CDC: Antibiotic-resistant bugs sicken 2 million a year

Concern for the spread of infections has lead to a heightened sense of concern in the workplace. New electronic hand washing faucets, and the sprouting up of hand cleansing stations. Workers compensation continue to pay the price for the spread of infections. Today's post was shared by CIDRAP and comes from www.cidrap.umn.edu

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today that antibiotic-resistant pathogens sicken 2 million Americans a year and listed the three most urgent threats as Clostridium difficile, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), and Neisseria gonorrhoeae. The agency's first all-encompassing report on antibiotic disease threats spans 114 pages and ranks the pathogens in part to spur a multipronged effort to prioritize and battle the problems. Antibiotic-resistant microorganisms play a role in 23,000 deaths each year, the CDC said. At a media briefing today, CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, said the landmark report provides a snapshot of the antibiotic-resistant organisms that have the biggest impact on human health. He said the numbers are very conservative estimates that don't take into account infections that occur outside hospitals, such as nursing homes and dialysis centers. The numbers are worrisome, because so few antibiotics to battle the new pathogens are in the development pipeline, he said. "If we don't take action early, the medicine cabinet will be empty for patients with life-threatening infections." The CDC ranked the antibiotic-resistant organisms based on seven criteria: health impact, economic impact, how common the infection is, 10-year projection of how common it will become, ease of spread, antibiotic availability, and prevention barriers. It also grouped the organisms into three groups, based on threat level. Topping the list is C...

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Many States Look to Raise Minimum Wage

The trend to raise minimum wages will ultimately raise workers' compensation rates and premiums. It is a necessary item to maintain a productive and healthy workforce,Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.pewstates.org

California’s recent decision to raise its minimum wage to $10 an hour by 2016—a higher minimum rate than any other state has now—may add momentum to the drive for higher hourly rates in at least eight other states in 2014. New Jersey could become the fifth state this year to increase its state minimum wage if voters approve a measure on Nov. 5 that would boost the hourly rate by $1, to $8.25. In states as varied as Alaska, Idaho, Massachusetts and South Dakota, advocates are pushing to put minimum wage hikes on state ballots in 2014. Meanwhile, elected officials are leading the charge in Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, and the District of Columbia. The action at the state level comes as organized labor and liberal groups have backed a wave of strikes by fast-food workers in cities across the country to put a spotlight on hourly wages.  Advocates are pressing for a national $15 hourly wage, more than twice the $7.25 federal minimum wage. States cannot set a minimum wage that is lower than the federal standard, but they are free to establish a higher one. Washington state currently has the highest state minimum wage at $9.19; followed by Oregon ($8.95) and Vermont ($8.60). Connecticut, the District of Columbia and Illinois all have a state minimum of $8.25. In addition, some 120 cities have enacted “living wages” that set a minimum standard for businesses that receive city contracts. City minimums range from $9 to $16 an hour. ...

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For Workers Leaving Their Jobs, Health Exchanges Offer Insurance Choices Beyond COBRA

The Affordable Care Act will impact all areas of the delivery of medicine in the workplace.Today's post was shared by Kaiser Health News and comes from www.kaiserhealthnews.org

Workers who lose their jobs and their employer-based health insurance will have new coverage options when the Affordable Care Act's state marketplaces open in October. But consumer advocates are concerned many may not realize this and lock themselves into pricier coverage than they need. Today, the only option for many laid-off workers is to continue their employer-provided coverage for up to 18 months under the federal law known as COBRA. Because they have to pay the entire premium plus a 2 percent administrative fee, however, the coverage can be a financial hardship for people who are scrambling to keep up with expenses after losing their jobs. Many of these people will likely be better off buying a plan on the state health insurance marketplaces, also called exchanges. Plans sold there must cover a comprehensive set of 10 "essential health benefits," and consumers can choose among four plan types with different levels of cost-sharing. Premium tax credits will be available to people with incomes between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level ($11,490 to $45,960 for an individual in 2013), often making exchange coverage significantly more affordable than COBRA. "COBRA was a transitional type of coverage while you're between jobs, but now we have a subsidized form of coverage available, exchange plans with subsidies," says Edwin Park, vice president for health policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. It's...

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Plaintiffs in Calif. lead paint case say companies’ witnesses were ‘not persuasive’

The lead paint industry has not yet come to the table to settle the public health nightmare of lead pigment in paint. Soon California may change the economics of the problem. Today's post was shared by Legal Newsline and comes from legalnewsline.com

SAN JOSE, Calif. (Legal Newsline) — The plaintiffs in a six-week trial over lead paint — 10 cities and counties in California — argue that the one-time paint and pigment manufacturers they’re suing have not presented a “persuasive” case. The cities and counties — Santa Clara County, San Francisco City, Alameda County, Los Angeles County, Monterey County, Oakland City, San Diego City, San Mateo County, Solano County and Ventura County — filed their 52-page statement of decision with the Santa Clara County Superior Court Friday. Friday was the deadline for all parties in the lead paint trial, which wrapped up last month, to submit their proposed statements of decision, as requested by Judge James Kleinberg. Kleinberg is presiding over The People of California v. Atlantic Richfield Company et al. Kleinberg In their statement of decision, the plaintiffs argue that their witnesses were “credible,” and that the defendants’ witnesses — which refuted evidence offered by the cities and counties — were “not persuasive.” “Defendants contend that ‘intact’ lead paint does not present a hazard. The Court finds that the evidence demonstrates otherwise,” the plaintiffs wrote in their statement and proposed order. “Lead paint on high friction surfaces presents an immediate hazard, even if it is presently intact, because normal use causes the paint to degrade, exposing young...

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Workers compensation rates to decline in Oregon in 2014

Oregon has been notorious in limiting benefits for injured workers. Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from www.oregonlive.com

Oregon employers next year, on average, will pay $1.63 per $100 of payroll for workers' compensation insurance. That figure covers the pure premium, the premium assessment, the Workers' Benefit Fund assessment and insurer profit and expenses. Figures above have been adjusted to reflect the 2012 mix of employment and payroll. Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services Following two years of increases, state officials say workers' compensation insurance rates should decline for most employers in 2014. The Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services said last week that the "pure premium" - the portion set by the state - will drop on average by 7.6 percent. That does not include insurer expenses and profit. It also does not include smaller taxes that cover the state's administrative costs, reserves for self-insured employers and employer groups and a fund for injured worker benefits and return-to-work programs. Including those costs, premiums will average $1.63 per $100 of payroll in 2014, down from $1.75 in 2013, a 6.9 percent decrease, state officials said. Actual rates will vary by industry, the insurer and by individual employer claim experience and payroll size. But the construction and manufacturing sectors, both historically hazardous industries, should see drops of 11 percent and 8.5 percent respectively, said John Shilts, the state's workers' compensation division administrator. "The performance of construction and manufacturingin...

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Doing Business in Bangladesh

International fashion safety continues mirror the genesis of the workers" compensation moment in the US. Today's post was shared by WCBlog and comes from www.nytimes.com

The owner of a clothing factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, was at New York University last week to meet with clothing industry executives, labor activists and American and European government officials to talk about the Bangladeshi garment industry, the world’s second-biggest exporter of clothes after China. The workplace disasters in this business have grabbed the world’s attention, and for the past year, Western retailers that outsource their clothing production to Bangladesh have tried to come up with reforms. But there are big obstacles to improving safety in an industry driven by low profits and constant upheaval. I met with the businessman and another factory owner; both would speak only on the condition that they not be identified because they feared offending their customers. A central problem, the first owner told me, is the rapid turnaround big retailers like Walmart demand when they put in orders for tens of thousands of T-shirts or shorts. Since his factory isn’t able to make all the garments in time, he has to send some of the work to smaller producers. “I can’t do it officially,” he said, “but unofficially, I can.” Unauthorized subcontracting to smaller, uninspected factories is not supposed to happen, but it remains an entrenched practice. It is a primary reason safety guidelines that apply to bigger contractors have not prevented the hundreds of worker deaths in fires and building collapses in facilities like Rana...

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Tips and Poverty

In the calcuation of wages and rates of benefits, most state workers' compensation programs incoporate tips. Elimination of tips, would eliminated added coverage benefits paid under workers' compensation programs.Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.nytimes.com

When The Times’s restaurant critic, Pete Wells, recently called tipping “irrational, outdated, ineffective, confusing, prone to abuse and sometimes discriminatory,” he was referring mainly to mid- to high-priced restaurants that are considering an end to the practice in favor of surcharges or service-included pricing. In the diners and other more “value oriented” restaurants that employ most of the nation’s burgeoning ranks of waitresses (the vast majority of servers are female), tips are all that and more. They are part of a parallel economic universe in which employers are allowed to pay sub-minimum wages, with predictably devastating results. According to census data, servers are far more likely than other workers to live in poverty. It is a national disgrace when hard work, in any industry, leaves workers in poverty. But falling living standards and economic hardship among tipped workers signal prolonged stagnation throughout the economy. That’s because employment growth in restaurants and bars has outpaced growth in nearly all other sectors in recent years, including health care, manufacturing, retail and financial services.  If wages in food-service and other service jobs are not lifted, it is hard to see where adequate consumer demand will come from to generate and sustain a real recovery. It is not tipping that most needs to end, however. What needs to change is the federal law that sets the minimum wage for tipped workers...

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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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What to Do About Futile Critical Care

The last year of an injured worker's life is probably the most expensive for medical costs. Usually such expenses account for 50% of lifetime care costs. Associated with a work-related claim  researchers are struggling how to limit unnecessary costs and maintain ethical and moral responsibilities. Today's post was shared by The Health Care Blog and comes from thehealthcareblog.com

By Neil S. Wenger, MD Thanks to extraordinary advances in medicine, critical care providers can save lives even when the cards are stacked against their patients. However, there are times when no amount of care, however cutting-edge it is, will save a patient. In these instances, when physicians recognize that patients will not be rescued, further critical care is said to be “futile.” In a new study, my RAND and UCLA colleagues and I find that critical care therapies that physicians regard as “futile” are not uncommon in intensive care units, raising some uncomfortable questions. Of course, we’re fortunate to have such fantastic technology at our disposal — but we must address how to use it appropriately when the patient may not benefit from high-intensity measures. When aggressive critical care is unsuccessful at achieving an acceptable level of health for the patient, treatment should focus on palliative care. In our study, my colleagues and I quantified the prevalence and cost of “futile” critical care in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. This can be seen as the first step toward reevaluating the status quo and better optimizing care for critical care patients. After convening a group of critical care clinicians to determine a consensus definition of “futile treatment,” our research team analyzed nearly 7,000 daily assessments of more than 1,000 patients. We found that 11 percent received futile...

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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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Bridge Safety: Many U.S. Spans Are Old, Risky And Rundown

Transportation accidents are one of the leading cause of work-related compensation claims. Today's post was shared by Huffington Post and comes from www.huffingtonpost.com

Motorists coming off the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge into Washington are treated to a postcard-perfect view of the U.S. Capitol. The bridge itself, however, is about as ugly as it gets: The steel underpinnings have thinned since the structure was built in 1950, and the span is pocked with rust and crumbling concrete. District of Columbia officials were so worried about a catastrophic failure that they shored up the horizontal beams to prevent the bridge from falling into the Anacostia River. And safety concerns about the Douglass bridge, which is used by more than 70,000 vehicles daily, are far from unique. An Associated Press analysis of 607,380 bridges in the most recent federal National Bridge Inventory showed that 65,605 were classified as "structurally deficient" and 20,808 as "fracture critical." Of those, 7,795 were both – a combination of red flags that experts say indicate significant disrepair and similar risk of collapse. A bridge is deemed fracture critical when it doesn't have redundant protections and is at risk of collapse if a single, vital component fails. A bridge is structurally deficient when it is in need of rehabilitation or replacement because at least one major component of the span has advanced deterioration or other problems that lead inspectors to deem its condition poor or worse. Engineers say the bridges are safe. And despite the ominous sounding classifications, officials say that even bridges that are structurally...

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