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(c) 2010-2026 Jon L Gelman, All Rights Reserved.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Dallas Nurse Contracts Ebola Virus, Elevating Response and Anxiety

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from mobile.nytimes.com

DALLAS — A nurse here became the first person to contract Ebola within the United States, prompting local, state and federal officials who had settled into a choreographed response to scramble on Sunday to solve the mystery of how she became infected, despite wearing protective gear, and to monitor additional people possibly at risk.

The news further stoked fears of health care workers across the country, many of whom have grown increasingly anxious about having to handle Ebola cases. The confirmation on Sunday of the second Ebola case in Dallas — four days after the death on Wednesday of the first patient, Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, a Liberian who arrived in this country in September — opened a new and more frightening chapter in the unfolding public health drama.

While the new Ebola patient was not publicly identified, officials said that she was a nurse who had helped treat Mr. Duncan at a hospital here and that she may have violated safety protocols. It was the first confirmed instance of Ebola being transmitted in this country. Officials expanded the pool of people they had been monitoring, because the nurse had not been among the 48 health care workers, relatives of Mr. Duncan and others whom they were evaluating daily.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that health officials look more closely at the protective gear that nurses, doctors and hospital assistants use when treating Ebola patients. It also, for the first time,...

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Formularies in the News

Today's guest post is by The Hon. David Langham who is the Deputy Chief Judge of Compensation Claims for the Florida Office of Judges of Compensation Claims and Division of Administrative Hearings flojcc.blogspot.com
The California Workers' Compensation Institute (CWCI) released their study of controlling pharmaceuticals on October 6, 2014. They acknowledge that Washington and Texas have each implemented drug formularies, and have enjoyed cost savings as a result. The complete report is here. Their data helps with the question of whether a formulary might be part of the solution elsewhere, California in particular.
Formulary restrictions are not new. Texas enacted legislation in 2005 that led to the deployment of its formulary. The results have been remarkable. Prescription volume has dropped and the cost of "non-formulary drugs" decreased by 80% according to the Workers' Compensation Research Institute. I summarized some of the WCRI findings in a June 2014 post.
Another interesting point on closed formularies is the control they afford regarding specific medications or potentially types of medication. The Texas experience with Zohydro, and its recent approval by the FDA is discussed in a December 2013 post. Essentially, while others have wondered about the effect of "heroin in a pill," Texas simply did not add it to their formulary, and that is that. For a doctor to prescribe it in a Texas Comp case is not impossible, but it will require paperwork and...
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FedEx cited by OSHA $44,000 for machine guard hazard

FedEx Ground Packaging System Inc. failed to guard a conveyor belt properly at its Wilmington shipping distribution center and exposed its employees to potential injuries, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found. OSHA had previously cited the company in 2010 and 2011 for similar hazards at company facilities in Grove City, Ohio, and Syracuse, New York.

After inspecting the Wilmington facility, OSHA's Andover Area Office personnel determined that the belt conveyor system's rotating parts were insufficiently guarded on the periphery to prevent employees' fingers and hands from getting caught. This could result in injuries, including pinched or crushed fingers and hands, concussions, abrasions or nerve damage. Proper machine guarding ensures that no part of an employee's body can come in contact with a machine's moving parts.

"A basic safety concern went unmet here even though this employer has twice been cited for similar hazards in the past four years," said Jeffrey Erskine, OSHA's acting deputy regional administrator for New England. "It is critical for workers' safety and health that an employer with multiple facilities, such as this, ensures that required safeguards are in place and maintained effectively at all times in all locations."

Because of the prior violations, OSHA has cited the company for a repeat violation with a proposed fine of $44,000. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

FedEx Ground Packaging System Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission.

The Long Seach for Employment

Read the complete report click here.

Is Ebola Too Big of Risk For The Nation's Workers' Compensation System?

Ebola is a major risk of a generational epidemic of a potential compensable disease. The risk/loss is so immense that the US Government is apt to have already starting to plan to spread the risk through Federal legislation.

In the past, with anthrax/smallpox, the Federal government put in place a contingency system to avoid an economic collapse of the Insurance Industry. "The federal government established a no-fault program entitled the Smallpox Emergency Personnel Protection Act of 2003 (SEPPA) in an effort to provide benefits and/or compensation to certain individuals, including health-care workers and emergency responders, who are injured as a result of the administration of smallpox countermeasures including the smallpox (vaccinia) vaccine. SEPPA also provides benefits and/or compensation to certain individuals who are injured through the result of accidental vaccinia inoculation through contact. 42 U.S.C.A. § 239 " 38 NJ PRAC §1.25, Gelman, (West Publishing 2014).

CDC Statement 10/12/2014
"Texas Patient Tests Positive for Ebola

A health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital who provided care for the Ebola patient hospitalized there has tested positive for Ebola in a preliminary test at the state public health laboratory in Austin. Confirmatory testing will be conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The health care worker reported a low grade fever Friday night and was isolated and referred for testing. The preliminary ​test result was received late Saturday.

"We knew a second case could be a reality, and we've been preparing for this possibility," said Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services. "We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread."

Health officials have interviewed the patient and are identifying any contacts or potential exposures. People who had contact with the health care worker after symptoms emerged will be monitored based on the nature of their interactions and the potential they were exposed to the virus.

Ebola is spread through direct contact with bodily fluids of a sick person or exposure to contaminated objects such as needles. People are not contagious before symptoms such as fever develop."

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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.

The lifetime medical cost of motor vehicle crash injuries is $18.4 billion

Key Points

  • In 2012, an estimated 2,519,471 emergency department visits resulting from nonfatal crash injuries occurred in the United States, with 7.5% of these visits resulting in hospitalization, accounting for an estimated 1,057,465 hospitalization days in 2012.
  • The estimated total lifetime medical cost of nonfatal crash injuries was $18.4 billion (in 2012 dollars), consisting of $7.7 billion among patients treated and released from the emergency department and $10.7 billion among hospitalized patients.
  • Teens and young adults aged 15–29 years account for 21% of the population but accounted for 38% of the costs for patients treated and released for crash injuries.
  • Primary seatbelt laws, child passenger restraint laws, ignition interlocks to prevent alcohol impaired driving, publicized sobriety checkpoints, and graduated driver licensing systems for teens all have shown effectiveness to reduce crash injuries and fatalities. To date, no state has implemented all of these safety measures in accordance with evidence and expert recommendation.

FIGURE 1. Percentage of emergency department visits for nonfatal crash injuries among motor vehicle occupants that result in hospitalization, by age group — National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, United States, 2012

The figure above is a bar chart showing the percentage of emergency department visits for nonfatal crash injuries among motor vehicle occupants that result in hospitalization, by age group, for the year 2012. Approximately 7.5% of persons overall were hospitalized; adults aged ≥80 years had a significantly higher hospitalization rate (33%) than all other age groups except for person aged 70–79 years.The figure above is a bar chart showing the percentage of emergency department visits for nonfatal crash injuries among motor vehicle occupants that result in hospitalization, by age...

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Sunday, October 12, 2014

2nd person in U.S. tests positive for Ebola

Today's post is shared from CNN.com/

A health care worker at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital has tested positive for Ebola after a preliminary test, the state's health agency said in a statement.

Confirmatory testing will be conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

The employee helped care for Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. Duncan died on Wednesday.

"We knew a second case could be a reality, and we've been preparing for this possibility," Dr. David Lakey, commissioner of the Texas Department of State Health Services, said in a statement Sunday morning.

"We are broadening our team in Dallas and working with extreme diligence to prevent further spread."

If confirmed by the CDC, the health care worker's case would mark the second diagnosis of Ebola ever in the United States.

Globally, the disease has wrought catastrophic consequences.

The World Health Organization estimates more than 8,300 have contracted Ebola during the current outbreak. Of those, more than 4,000 people have died.

Three countries -- Sierra Leone, Guinea and Liberia -- have been hardest hit.


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Ebola Victim’s Family Blames Hospital and State

Today's post is shared from nytimes.com
Relatives of the first person to die of Ebola in the United States, joined by the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., continued on Saturday to denounce the treatment he and his family had received from a hospital here and from Texas officials, claiming that he had been cremated without their knowledge or permission and given substandard care because he was African.
Josephus Weeks, a nephew of the Ebola victim — Thomas Eric Duncan, 42, a Liberian who died Wednesday at the Dallas hospital where he had been found to have Ebola on Sept. 30 — said his uncle had been “handled poorly, unfairly, and an injustice was done.”
Mr. Weeks spoke to reporters on Saturday in Chicago with Mr. Jackson and Mr. Duncan’s mother, Nowai Gartay. They asked why Mr. Duncan had not been taken to Nebraska Medical Center, where two Americans who contracted the disease in West Africa have been treated. And they said the Dallas hospital, Texas Health Presbyterian, had not immediately informed them that Mr. Duncan had died and had led them to believe that he was still alive.
“I feel bad about my son,” Ms. Gartay said inside a chapel at the Chicago headquarters of Mr. Jackson’s Rainbow/PUSH Coalition. “We call the hospital — they know that my son died, and they didn’t tell me. They only told me, ‘You can’t talk to your son.’ ”
Mr. Jackson said the other Ebola victims in the United States “came back to...
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NJ quarantines NBC crew that worked with Ebola-stricken cameraman


Infectious diseases are compensable conditions under most state workers' compensation laws. Todays post is shared from northjersey.com

An NBC news crew that was worked alongside an Ebola-stricken cameraman in Liberia has been placed under mandatory quarantine through Oct. 22, New Jersey health officials announced Saturday.
The state Department of Health issued the order Friday evening, after a voluntary 21-day isolation agreement was violated by the crew, according to a notice posted on the health department's Web site.
The notice stressed that the crew remains "symptom-free" and that there was "no reason for concern of exposure to the community."
Neither health officials nor an NBC News spokesperson would say who violated the order, how many people were being quarantined or locate where the quarantine was being carried out.
But Princeton Police Chief Nicholas Sutter confirmed that his agency, in conjunction with the Princeton Health Department, was enforcing the order. He believed three people, all in Princeton, had been quarantined.
He referred all other comment to the state Health Department.
The NBC team was led by Chief Medical Editor Nancy Snyderman, who lives in Princeton, according to her bio on the NBC News website.
Freelancer Ashoka Mukpo, 33, contracted Ebola while working as a camera operator for Snyderman's team in Liberia, where the virus has killed more than 2,000 people, according to NBC News. He is being treated in Nebraska, where...
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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.

Is $1,125 hepatitis pill from Bay Area drugmaker worth it?

  • Gilead Sciences won federal approval for the drug Harvoni, a once-a-day Hepatitis C pill, that has a controversial $1,125 price tag. Photo: Gilead Sciences, Courtesy Photo
    Gilead Sciences won federal approval for the drug Harvoni, a once-a-day Hepatitis C pill, that has a controversial $1,125 price tag. Photo: Gilead Sciences, Courtesy Photo
After shaking up the health care industry with a $1,000 hepatitis C pill, Gilead Sciences of Foster City won approval Friday for a new version of that treatment that works faster, drops the usual injections and boasts an already-controversial $1,125 price tag.
The new daily pill Harvoni costs $94,500 for 12 weeks and $63,000 for eight weeks — both cheaper than some existing hepatitis C treatments, according to the drugmaker. But some patient advocates are already upset about the price after nearly revolting against Gilead’s first hepatitis C therapy, Sovaldi, which became the best-selling new drug ever when it hit the market late last year at $84,000 for 12 weeks.
Harvoni, which combines Sovaldi and a new drug called ledipasvir, is expected to push Gilead’s overall hepatitis C drug sales to $12 billion this year and more than $15 billion next year, said Michael Yee, a biotechnology analyst at RBC Capital Markets.
“It is a major breakthrough to have yet another regimen that takes two drugs and combines it into one, and shortens the treatment of care for patients,” he said.
Debates over cost
Sales of Sovaldi were $2.3 billion in the first quarter and $3.5 billion in the second, putting it on track to become one of the world’s best-selling medicines. At the same time, its...
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Read more about Hepatitis:
Sep 16, 2014
The maker of one of the costliest drugs in the world announced on Monday that it had struck deals with seven generic drug makers in India to sell lower-cost versions of the medicine — a $1,000-a-pill hepatitis C treatment ...
Jul 25, 2014
Hepatitis remains largely ignored or unknown. In April this year, WHO issued new recommendations on treatment of hepatitis C. In May, World Health Assembly delegates from 194 Member States adopted a resolution to ...
Jun 26, 2014
Medications for other diseases may be more expensive, but insurers worry about the potential outlay, given that approximately 3.2 million people in the U.S. are chronically infected with hepatitis C, according to the U.S. Center ...
Aug 02, 2014
They also note that while Sovaldi has a monopoly on the market right now, a half dozen new hepatitis C drugs are excepted to be available in the next 4 years and will likely drive down the cost of the drug as competition ...

NJ Workers' Compensation Premiums Ranked 3rd Highest in the Nation

NJ's workers' compensation premium cost soared over the last year. NJ is now ranked 3rd highest in the US according to a recent study conducted by the state of Oregon.

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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.

Read more:
3 hours ago
NJ Workers' Compensation Premiums Ranked 3rd Highest in the Nation. NJ's workers' compensation premium cost soared over the last year. NJ is now ranked 3rd highest in the US according to a recent study conducted by ...
Dec 19, 2012
NJ Workers Compensation Premiums Go Up for 2013. NJ Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau has announced rate increases for 2013 as follows: Revision of Rates and Rating Values – Effective January 1, 2013
Sep 21, 2011
"Insurance companies appear to have been setting premiums according to their returns on the stock and bond markets, not according to the number of claims they have," said J. Paul Leigh, UC Davis professor of public health ...
Sep 11, 2012
The defense based NY Workers' Compensation Policy Institue has published a report reflecting that NY has the highest premium assessments in the country for workers' compensation. Note that NJ is not far behind when ...

Saturday, October 11, 2014

OSHA launches national dialogue on hazardous chemical exposures and permissible exposure limits in the workplace

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced it is launching a national dialogue with stakeholders on ways to prevent work-related illness caused by exposure to hazardous substances. The first stage of this dialogue is a request for information on the management of hazardous chemical exposures in the workplace and strategies for updating permissible exposure limits.

OSHA's PELs, which are regulatory limits on the amount or concentration of a substance in the air, are intended to protect workers against the adverse health effects of exposure to hazardous substances. Ninety-five percent of OSHA's current PELs, which cover fewer than 500 chemicals, have not been updated since their adoption in 1971. The agency's current PELs cover only a small fraction of the tens of thousands of chemicals used in commerce, many of which are suspected of being harmful. Substantial resources are required to issue new exposure limits or update existing workplace exposure limits, as courts have required complex analyses for each proposed PEL.

"Many of our chemical exposure standards are dangerously out of date and do not adequately protect workers," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. "While we will continue to work on updating our workplace exposure limits, we are asking public health experts, chemical manufacturers, employers, unions and others committed to preventing workplace illnesses to help us identify new approaches to address chemical hazards."

OSHA is seeking public comment regarding current practices and future methods for updating PELs, as well as new strategies for better protecting workers from hazardous chemical exposures. Specifically, the agency requests suggestions on:
possible streamlined approaches for risk assessment and feasibility analyses and
alternative approaches for managing chemical exposures, including control banding, task-based approaches and informed substitution.

The goal of this public dialogue is to give stakeholders a forum to develop innovative, effective approaches to improve the health of workers in the United States. In the coming months, OSHA will announce additional ways for members of the public to participate in the conversation.

The comment period for the RFI will continue for 180 days. Instructions for submitting comments are available in the Federal Register, Docket No. OSHA-2012-0023, at https://federalregister.gov/a/2014-24009. For more information, please visit the OSHA Chemical Management Request for Information Web page athttp://www.osha.gov/chemicalmanagement/index.html.

"Padgett," or "Florida Workers' Advocates," A Rose by Any Other Name

Today's post is shared from authored by The Honorable David Langham is the Deputy Chief Judge of Compensation Claims for the Florida Office of Judges of Compensation Claims and Division of Administrative Hearings. Contact him at david_langham@doah.state.fl.us. It is shared from his blog lojcc.blogspot.com/
I traveled to the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC) convention in Austin, Texas last week. It was their 100th anniversary convention. Amazing that this convention has been meeting for 100 years when you reflect that workers' compensation itself just reached its 100th American anniversary.
I sat quitely in the Commissioner's Forum on Tuesday afternoon, listening to what is going on around the world and the industry. There were 41 leaders on the panel, which makes for a very diverse discussion of what is being tried, what has worked and what has not.
The discussion was led by Dwight Lovan of Kentucky, who will be the IAIABC President for the next year. He somehow noticed when I entered the room, and called upon me to give what perspective I could on "that constitutional case in Florida."
He is not alone in his interest. I hear from other states periodically. They are curious. There is much discussion about the "what" of the case, that is what conclusions the trial judge reached, and what that means. There is ample disagreement about this in the legal world. There is also much discussion still about...
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Injury Statistics by Race Go Uncollected



Brad McClellan, an Austin lawyer, became convinced a few years ago that one of his clients, a black man who had been horribly injured at a smelting plant in West Texas, faced discrimination from the insurance company handling his workers’ compensation benefits.
Then as he pondered the long line of black and Hispanic workers seeking his legal help, Mr. McClellan wondered if injured minorities, statistically speaking, received equal treatment when they requested benefits or faced disputes.
The answer, contained in an email from the Texas Division of Workers’ Compensation, surprised him: It is virtually impossible to know.
The state agency has not compiled useful racial statistics for years on injured workers, despite a 1993 state law that requires the division to maintain information on the race and gender of every valid injury claim, known as a “compensable injury.”
“Please note that race and ethnicity are rarely reported and, as discussed, inaccurate and incomplete,” the agency told Mr. McClellan in September. “Therefore, these numbers cannot be extrapolated for analysis.”


A spokesman for the division, John Greeley, acknowledged that the agency did not maintain racial information on every compensable injury. If employees do not disclose their race or ethnicity, he said, the state does not reject the claim or halt processing. In addition, the electronic forms that insurers send in have no field for race.
“We have some data...
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Friday, October 10, 2014

Motor Vehicle Crash Injuries

Today's post was shared by Take Justice Back and comes from www.cdc.gov

Motor vehicle crashes are a leading cause of injury in the US—harmful and expensive.

What works to prevent crash injuries?
  • Using primary enforcement seat belt laws that cover everyone in the car. A primary enforcement law means a police officer can pull over and ticket a driver or passenger for not wearing a seat belt. A secondary enforcement law means a police officer can ticket a driver or passenger for not wearing a seat belt only if the driver has been pulled over for some other offense.
  • Having child passenger restraint laws that require car seat or booster seat use for children age 8 and under, or until 57 inches tall, the recommended height for proper seat belt fit.
  • Using sobriety checkpoints, where police systematically stop drivers to check if they are driving under the influence of alcohol.
  • Requiring ignition interlocks for people convicted of drinking and driving, starting with their first conviction. Ignition interlocks check and analyze a driver's breath and prevent the car from starting if alcohol is detected.
  • Using comprehensive graduated driver licensing (GDL) systems, which help new drivers gain skills in low-risk conditions. As drivers move through the different stages, they receive more driving privileges, such as driving at night or with passengers. Every state has GDL, but the specific rules vary.
Each of these strategies can prevent injuries and save medical costs. Much has been done to help keep people safe on the road, but no...
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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.

Workers’ comp claim led to firing, suit states

BECKLEY — A Raleigh County man is suing over claims he was fired after returning from a leave of absence to recover from a workplace injury.

WorkersCompClaim

Dale Davis filed a lawsuit Aug. 29 in Raleigh Circuit Court against Kentucky Fuel Corporation, citing wrongful discharge.

According to the complaint, Davis was employed as a truck driver by the defendant in October 2013, when he was involved in a collision while riding in the passenger’s seat of a company vehicle. Davis says he received workers’ compensation, including a six-week leave of absence, but when he returned, he was laid off after only three days. The complaint states other employees who had just returned to work were also laid off. The defendant is accused of wrongful discharge, workers’ compensation discrimination and disability discrimination.

Davis is seeking back pay and benefits, damages, attorneys’ fees and reinstatement or front pay. He is being represented in the case by attorneys Stephen B. Farmer and Matthew H. Nelson of Farmer, Cline and Campbell in Morgantown. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge John A. Hutchison.

Raleigh County Circuit Court case number: 14-C-855

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Truck firm, driver sued over crash that killed 4 softball players

Today's post was shared by Take Justice Back and comes from www.dallasnews.com

Two lawsuits have been filed in Tarrant County against Quickway Transportation and its driver, Russell Wayne Staley of Saginaw, following a Sept. 26 crash that killed four college softball teammates.
The parents of Brooke Deckard filed their suit in district court Monday. Deckard, 20, of Blue Ridge; Jaiden Pelton, 19, of Telephone; Meagan Richardson, 19, of Wylie; and Katelynn Woodlee, 18, of Dodd City were killed in the wreck.
Staley’s northbound truck crossed the grass median of Interstate 35 about 47 miles into Oklahoma and slammed into the southbound bus that was returning the team to North Central Texas College in Gainesville after a game.
Another lawsuit was filed Friday on behalf of Rachel Hitt, 19, of Scurry. She was one of two players, both from Kaufman County, who required several days of hospital treatment.
Each suit seeks a jury trial and more than $1 million in damages.
The suits accuse 53-year-old Staley of distracted driving and say that Quickway was negligent in letting him drive.
Investigations into the crash are expected to take several weeks. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is conducting a criminal investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board is conducting a safety investigation that could lead to possible road improvements at the site near Davis, Okla.
Investigators have said the truck left the roadway at highway speed, 70 mph, and crossed about 950 feet of median without braking or swerving. However, some deceleration may have occurred, and no...
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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.

Safety, sanitary problems prompt scores of drug recalls

Today's post was shared by Take Justice Back and comes from www.usatoday.com



Eloise Soler at her home near Oso Bay, Texas. Soler was sickened by contaminated medication that she received during heart surgery at the Corpus Christi Medical Center. Tests showed that Soler and others were sickened by Rhodococcus equi, a soil bacteria that typically infects horses and other grazing animals.(Photo: Todd Yates for USA TODAY)
The infection came out of nowhere, 36 hours after Eloise Soler's heart surgery last summer at the Corpus Christi Medical Center in South Texas. As her fever spiked to 103, other patients developed similar symptoms. Doctors raced to pinpoint the cause.
Tests showed that all of the patients had been sickened by the same bacteria, Rhodococcus equi, which typically infects horses and other grazing animals, and they all fell ill after infusions of the same drug, calcium gluconate.
The drug was made 200 miles away by Specialty Compounding, which sits in a category of pharmacies that mix unique or hard-to-find drugs not only for individual patients, but also in batches for doctors and hospitals. By the time the company recalled the medication days later, investigators believed it had sickened at least 15 people; two had died.
"You think because there are so many controls on drugs that you're not going to be given something that will make you sick," says Soler, 60, who spent months recovering. "I just couldn't believe it."
Two years after contaminated drugs linked to a compounding pharmacy in Massachusetts killed 64 and...
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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.

Consequences of asbestos: New laboratory installed for research into pleural cancer

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


Click to enlarge

At the Comprehensive Cancer Center Vienna of the Medical University of Vienna and the Vienna General Hospital interdisciplinary research collaboration with a focus on translational thoracic oncology has been in place for some years. In addition to lung cancer, the main focus is on pleural mesothelioma (pleural cancer). Michael Grusch from the Institute for Cancer Research at the MedUni Vienna says: "Until recently, pleural mesothelioma was regarded as a rare disease. Unfortunately, this is changing now. One of the main causes triggering the disease is asbestos. The long incubation period for this disease means that the damage done 20, 30 years ago is just coming to light now. A reputable study predicts that, by 2029, 250,000 people will die of pleural cancer in Europe."
Says thoracic surgeon Mir Alireza Hoda: "We are very struck by the fact that we are increasingly seeing younger patients between 30 and 50 years old. Earlier it mainly affected people over 65." Pleural mesothelioma is treated with a combination of chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy. Says Hoda: "Our goal is to find markers for mesothelioma and to develop personalized approaches to treatment. There still aren’t any but they would help us to select the right treatments for the patients affected." This could have a decisive impact on improving the success of treatment as, at present, the average survival rate after diagnosis is nine to twelve months.
The...
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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.

When do work shifts actually end? Supreme Court hears Amazon warehouse case.

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.washingtonpost.com

The Supreme Court on Wednesday pondered when the working day ends for hourly employees at an Amazon.com warehouse: when the worker punches the time clock, or later, when he clears a security check to make sure he hasn’t stolen anything.
Several justices seemed to think it was the former. But others seemed sympathetic to a lawsuit filed by workers at a Nevada facility arguing that enduring the wait to go through security — up to 25 minutes, according to those who filed the suit — was part of the job, and they should be paid for it.
The implications are great: there are more than a dozen class-action suits filed against Amazon and others who believe security checks are necessary to make sure none of their inventory walks out with the workers. A win could open the way for hundreds of millions of dollars in pay.
Paul D. Clement, representing Integrity Staffing Solutions, a company that supplies workers for Amazon.com, said waiting to go through a security check is a “classic” example of the kind of activity, like commuting, for which courts have said employers do not have to pay.
Going through security is not “integral and indispensable” to the job for which a worker is hired.
Justice Elena Kagan was not convinced, especially at companies where a tight control over their warehouses is essential.
“I mean, what makes it Amazon?” Kagan asked Clement. “It’s a system of inventory control that betters everybody else in the...
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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.

Court hears dispute over pay for security checks

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.miamiherald.com

Workers who fill customer orders for Internet retailer Amazon might be out of luck in their quest to be paid for time they spend going through security checkpoints each day.
Several Supreme Court justices expressed doubts Wednesday during arguments over whether federal law entitles workers to compensation for security measures to prevent employee theft.
The case is being watched closely by business groups concerned that employers could be liable for billions of dollars in retroactive pay for security check procedures that have become routine in retail and other industries.
Workers have battled for decades with employers over what tasks they should or shouldn't be paid for. The Supreme Court has previously ruled that workers must be paid for time putting on protective gear for work, but not for time waiting to take it off. And the court has found that butchers deserve to be paid for time sharpening their knives, which are essential to working at a meatpacking plant.
The latest dispute involves two former workers at a Nevada warehouse who say their employer, Integrity Staffing Solutions, Inc., made them to wait up to 25 minutes in security lines at the end of every shift. Integrity provides staffers for Amazon warehouses.
Amazon spokeswoman Kelly Cheeseman says the company's data shows that warehouse employees walk through security screenings "with little or no wait."
A federal appeals court ruled last year that the workers, Jesse Busk and Laurie Castro,...
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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.