New Website for September 11th Victims Compensation Fund

The United States Department of Justice has established a new website for the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund (Zadroga Act). The Internet presence was established following the naming of Shelia Birnbaum, a defense attorney, as the Special Master of the Fund.

The program was established to provide compensation and medical monitoring to victims of the September 11th tragedy in New York City. Regulations for the operation of the Fund have yet to be announced. It is anticipated that the Fund should be operational by July 1, 2011.

Those who were exposed to the toxic dust and fumes of the World Trade Center disaster continue to suffer from latent and progressive medical conditions. The New England Journal of Medicine has reported that a substantial population that was exposed to the toxic residuals of the event are suffering from sever medical conditions. Positive pathological findings reflect the existence of aluminum and magnesium silicates, chrysotile asbestos, calcium phosphate, calcium sulfate, glass, and carbon nanotubes (CNT) were found in specimens of exposed individuals.

Eligibility for benefits under the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act include those who were World Trade Center victims and First Responders. Under the law those who worked, attended school, childcare and adult day care, may be eligible. The program also covers some who were present in the area of the dust cloud or who lived in the the New York City disaster area. Certain  cleanup and maintenance workers are included including tele-communications workers such as Verizon, AT&T and other employees.

For over 3 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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Should CMS be A Joint Payee in a Workers Comp Settlement?

How to reimburse The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is becoming a serious issue under the Medicare Recovery Act (MSP). Commonly know as Allocation Orders, these cases are emerging across the country and the Courts are denying attempts to merge the payments of the plaintiff's with that due to CMS.

In Zaleppa v Seiwell, 2010 PA Super 208, No. 2019 MDA 2009, Decided November 17, 2010, an appellate panel tossed out a request to have CMS named as a co-payee of the proceeds. Likewise, a Federal Court ruled that CMS's name should not appear on the same check as the one going to the plaintiffs ruling that the interests of the two parties were not similar. Bradley v Sebelius, 621 F.3d 1330 (11 Cir Ct Ap 2010) decided September 29, 2010.

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The Next Wave of Workers Compensation Claims: WHO Calls Cell Phones a Potential Cancer Risk

After years of review, the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified the radio frequencies utilized by cell phones as possibly carcinogenic to human thereby opening the door to potential wave of workers' compensation occupational disease claims for  cancer of the brain. The increase risk has been identified for glioma, a malignant type of brain cancer .

The research has been mounting concern about the possibility of adverse health effects resulting from exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields, such as those emitted by wireless phones. The number of mobile phones in use is estimated at 5 billion annually. The Working Group did not quantitate the risk; however, one study of past cell phone use (up to the year 2004), showed a 40% increased risk for gliomas in the highest category of heavy users (reported average: 30 minutes per day over a 10‐year period).

The WHO/International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has been meeting from May 24 through May 31 in Lyon, France to access the potential carcinogenic hazards from exposure to radio frequency electromagnetic fields.

The IARC Monograph Working Group discussed and evaluated the available literature on the following exposure categories involving radiofrequency electromagnetic fields:

•  occupational exposures to radar and to microwaves; 
•  environmental exposures associated with transmission of signals for radio, television and wireless telecommunication; and 
•  personal exposures associated with the use of wireless telephones. 

A report summarizing the main conclusions of the IARC Working Group and the evaluations of the carcinogenic hazard from radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (including the use of mobile telephones) will be published in The Lancet Oncology in its July 1st issue.

Cells phones have emerged as a significant issue in workers' compensation claims since their use has been a major cause of distracted driving resulting in many serious and fatal accidents on the job. The WHO/IARC report has the potential of causing a major new wave of workers' compensation claims for cancer.


For over 3 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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Medicare to Partially Resume Workmens Comp Collection Letters

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)  has announced that its recovery of benefits contractor will resume sending Medicare collection letters to attorneys in workmens compensation cases. The practice was suspended recently following the entry of a Federal Court Order enjoining some recovery practices. 

CMS has a statutory obligation to seek recovery of medical benefits that it has paid to beneficiaries in those matters where Medicare is not the primary insurance carrier responsible for medical care. CMS seeks to recovery the money that it has apid from the workers' compensation insurance carrier. The process has evolved where in CMS sends notice to the attorneys in the pending workers' compensation claim seeking reimbursement at the time of resolution of the workers' compensation claim.

The Medicare Secondary Payer Recovery Contractor (MSPRC) is contracted to issue a letter know as the "Review of the Rights and Responsibility Letter" (RAR). The MSPRC has announced that the RAR letters will resume in some format on or about June 10, 2010.

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ASTR Health Survey of Pre-1986 Personnel at Camp Lejeune

During June--December 2011, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will conduct a health survey of persons who resided or worked at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina before 1986 and might have been exposed to contaminated drinking water. 

ATSDR Health Survey of Pre-1986 Personnel at Camp Lejeune

During June--December 2011, the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will conduct a health survey of persons who resided or worked at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune in North Carolina before 1986 and might have been exposed to contaminated drinking water. The purpose of the survey is to learn more about participants' health. Health surveys also will be mailed to a comparison group of former active duty marines, sailors, and civilian employees, sampled from those who lived or worked at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California.

Eligible participants who were formerly at Camp Lejeune include 1) former active duty marines and sailors who were stationed at Camp Lejeune any time during June 1975--December 1985, 2) civilian employees who worked at Camp Lejeune any time during December 1972--December 1985, 3) families who took part in the 1999--2002 ATSDR telephone survey of childhood cancers and birth defects, and 4) persons who registered with the Camp Lejeune notification registry.

Participants will receive a paper copy of the health survey and instructions for completing and mailing. A web-based version of the survey also will be available for those who prefer to answer online. Health-care providers are asked to share information regarding the Camp Lejeune survey with their patients who lived or worked at the base before to 1986 and to encourage those receiving a health survey for either Camp Lejeune or Camp Pendleton to fill it out and return it or complete it online. Additional information is available at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/sites/lejeune.

For over 3 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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Top 10 Surgery Center Violations

A recent report reveals that 1 out of 2 surgical centers have serious health safety violations. Workmens comp insurance carriers, as well as others, rely heavily upon these centers for surgery since they are less costly to operate than hospitals.

The New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute, (NJDHQI) reviewed state violations in a program funded by a Federal grant. NJDHQI published a report noting that more than 25% of the surgery centers were cited for "Immediate Jeopardy," which is a violation defined as noncompliance with established rules that has caused, or is likely to cause, serious injury, impairment or death to a patient.

The top violations were:

• Staff members walked through the sterile operating room in street clothes
• The surgery center did not have mandated emergency equipment and medicines on site
• The surgery centers had no system to track controlled and regulated medications on site
• Physicians and staff did not have current licenses and credentials
• The patient beds and floors were not sanitized correctly
• Surgical instruments were not cleaned or sanitized correctly
• The staff filled out patient charts in advance for convenience
• Single use items were used more then once on a patient
• The facility did not maintain an ongoing infection control program
• The surgery center failed to obtain consent from patients prior to permitting physician residents in an educational program participate in their surgeries.

Click here to read the report.

For over 3 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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