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

Friday, January 6, 2012

Medical Marijuana Maybe Permitted By State Authorization

English: U.S. states are shown in green where ...Image via Wikipedia

Workers' Compensation systems maybe legally  implementing distribution of marijuana for medical purposes on a state by state basis circumventing a Federal prohibition. A Federal Court ruled today that the state authorized distribution program was not subject to Federal restrictions.

Prescription drugs utilization has exploded both in cost factors and in volume leading to major concerns by both employers and insurance carriers. Compounding the issue is that prescription pain relief is being offered more frequently to avoid the both costly and risky surgical intervention and protocols. Additionally there is a concern that state governments merely want to get into the act in order to tax the prescription costs for the purposes of raising revenue.

All of this focuses on the issue of whether the nation's workers' compensation system is actually providing the necessary care to cure and relieve medical conditions as intended by the crafters a century ago.

Click here to read more from the Jurist: Federal judge grants ACLU motion to dismiss Arizona medical marijuana challenge
"A judge for the US District Court for the District of Arizona [official website] on Wednesday granted an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] motion to dismiss a lawsuit [order, PDF] challenging Arizona's voter approved medical marijuana law, the Arizona Medical Marijuana Act [text, PDF]."
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Thursday, January 5, 2012

Contagion in The Workplace: Ready or Not

The recent scientific announcement that scientists have developed an airborne strain of a highly contagious and deadly H5N1 flu virus brings to front burner the issue, once again, of whether the workers' compensation system is ready to respond effectively to a large spread viral  epidemic.

Whether the release is because of an unintentional act, or a terrorist attack, the workers' compensation system has not established a protocol for responding with urgent medical care and an elaborate and expedited medical delivery and benefit system.

Read more: Debate Persists on Deadly Flu Made Airborne (NY Times)

“This research should not have been done,” said Richard H. Ebright, a chemistry professor and bioweapons expert at Rutgers University who has long opposed such research. He warned that germs that could be used as bioweapons had already been unintentionally released hundreds of times from labs in the United States and predicted that the same thing would happen with the new virus.

“It will inevitably escape, and within a decade,” he said.
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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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Wednesday, January 4, 2012

More Evidence Mounts That TSA Scanners Are Dangerous



How much radiation is just too much and an additional risk for cancer is the question now posed by scientists concerned about TSA scanners. The scanners emit radiation in one form or another that is where the issues gets hot.


"Ionizing means it knocks the electrons out of your body, which breaks your DNA chain, which can cause death or cancer...."
Read: Cancer concerns mount over TSA body scanner
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Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Gingrich Calls Present Workers' Compensation System Dangerous


Entitlement programs were a hot issue in the Iowa Caucuses, and the nation's workers' compensation system has become an ancillary target. In the final hours of the Iowa debate,  Newt Gingrich called the present workers' compensation system as "very dangerous." 

Whoever the winner of tonight's contest is on the Republican side, that person will ultimately carry forth the Republican agenda to review the nation's disability program including both workers' compensation and disability. 


Click here for the NY Times story on the results of the Iowa Caucuses
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Annual Reporting of WCMSA Account Expenditures

Address for submitting annual accounting documentation to CMS' Medicare Secondary Payer Recovery Contractor (MSPRC). Please send your completed annual Workers' Compensation Medicare Set-aside Arrangement (WCMSA) Account Expenditure accounting documentation to the CMS lead Medicare Contractor at the address below:

MSPRC - Non-Group Health Plan (NGHP)
P.O. Box 138832
Oklahoma City, OK 73113

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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

OSHA cites Creamer Sanzari Joint Venture for safety hazards at Passaic River bridge project in Clifton, NJ


The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Creamer Sanzari Joint Venture of Hackensack for seven alleged serious safety violations found at the Passaic River bridge project in Clifton. 
Proposed penalties total $41,580.

The work site, where the company was installing a replacement bridge as well as making major road improvements along state Route 3, was one of many area construction sites to undergo a planned inspection by OSHA due to the high-hazard nature of the industry.

The following conditions resulted in citations: Ring buoys, a lifeboat and fall protection from a walking surface were not provided for employees exposed to a fall in excess of 12 feet. High-visibility materials were not used to mark the top rails of a guardrail system made of wire rope material. Bidirectional machines were not equipped with an operational horn. All protruding steel was not protected against impalement hazards. Employees were permitted to work with machines that had a deficient lockout/tagout system to prevent unexpected start ups. A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

"The construction industry continues to remain one of the most dangerous, and heavy highway and bridge work entails a variety of unique hazards," said Lisa Levy, director of OSHA's Hasbrouck Heights Area Office. "The company needs to ensure that violations of this nature are not repeated."

Creamer Sanzari, a heavy highway and bridge construction company, has 15 business days from receipt of the citations to comply, ask for an informal conference with OSHA's area director or contest the citations and proposed penalties before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.
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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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Monday, December 26, 2011

Mitt Romney Plans to Cut Benefits to Disabled

The Mitt Romney campaign, on the eve of the Iowa Caucuses, is now refining a campaign strategy, to reduce benefits for the disabled. He is beginning to take aim at any and all programs, regardless of funding, that provide assistance to those who are unable to work.

As state workers' compensation programs are,  both substantively and procedurally, entangled into a complex web of Federal subsidies and reimbursements, he too maybe taking aim at state workers' compensation systems.


Read: The Anti-Entitlement Strategy (NYTimes)
"Romney and his aides have designed his rhetoric to define pretty much all spending on entitlements, including provisions for the injured, unemployed, sick, disabled or elderly as benefits to the poor who, Romney implies, are undeserving. And it doesn’t matter whether the money to pay for these programs comes from employer and employee contributions and not just tax revenue — they are all under suspicion."
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