Carbon Nanotubes Exposure Linked to Lung Tumor Formation in Mice

"Earlier today, at the annual meeting of the Society of Toxicology, NIOSH researchers reported preliminary findings from a new laboratory study in which mice were exposed by inhalation to multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT).  The study was designed to investigate whether these tiny particles have potential to initiate or promote cancer.  

By “initiate,” we mean the ability of a substance to cause mutations in DNA that can lead to tumors.  By “promote,” we mean the ability of a substance to cause cells that have already sustained such DNA mutations to then become tumors. "

See the NIOSH Science Blog

Another Asbestos Company Files for Bankruptcy: Rapid American / Philip Carey Manufacturing Co.

On Friday Rapid-American Corp., successor to asbestos liability of Philip Carey Manufacturing, filed for bankruptcy protection. Philip Carey was established in 1888 and was a long-time manufacturer of insulation products containing asbestos fiber.

Asbestos litigation was initiated in the 1970's for health conditions arising out of the exposure to asbestos products including asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. 

One of the successor companies was Celotex that had filed for bankruptcy protection previously. The Celotex bankruptcy fell shirt of covering the financial responsibilities of the asbestos litigation claims, and the responsibility fell upon Rapid America.

Hospitals Are Become Even Deadlier Places for Sick People

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has reported that lethal drug-resistance bacteria is making its appearance at a growing rate at health care facilites. What has now been called a "nightmare of bacteria," CRE infections may now become a very serious complication of a work-related injury

"Drug-resistant germs called carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, are on the rise and have become more resistant to last-resort antibiotics during the past decade, according to a new CDC Vital Signs report.  These bacteria are causing more hospitalized patients to get infections that, in some cases, are impossible to treat. 

CRE are lethal bacteria that pose a triple threat:

• Resistance: CRE are resistant to all, or nearly all, the antibiotics we have - even our most powerful drugs of last-resort.
• Death: CRE have high mortality rates – CRE germs kill 1 in 2 patients who get bloodstream infections from them.
• Spread of disease:  CRE easily transfer their antibiotic resistance to other bacteria.  For example, carbapenem-resistant klebsiella can spread its drug-destroying weapons to a normal E. coli bacteria, which makes the E.coliresistant to antibiotics also. That could create a nightmare scenario since E. coliis the most common cause of urinary tract infections in healthy people.

Related articles

• Paper or Plastic: A Reusable Workplace Hazard From The Grocery Store (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Workers Are Getting Sick to Their Stomach - A New Virus (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• The Flu: A Compensable Event and Its Complications (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Protect American workers from exposure to silica on the job (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Knee Replacement Medical Device Recalled (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

$8 Million Verdict: DePuy Defective Hip Implant

A jury in California awarded a retired guard $8 Million as a result of suffering from a defective hip implant. The defective product, an ASR hip implant,  was manufactured by Johnson & Johnson. Many additional cases are pending though-out the country.

Read more about hip-implants and workers' compensation

Workers' Compensation: Knee Replacement Medical Device Recalled

Feb 27, 2013

4, 2013, DePuy issued an Urgent Medical Device Recall informing hospitals and surgeons of the problem and to immediately stop distributing or using the recalled lots. If a medical facility has the affected product in stock, it is ...

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

Defective Artificial Hips Maybe a Costly problem for Workers

Dec 17, 2010

With an estimated 93,000 DePuy recalled artificial hips implanted worldwide, the workers' compensation benefit system will probably be paying for a vast amount of the remediation and treatment costs, and then having its ...

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

Workers' Compensation: Hip Implants Recalled Due to Failure

Aug 27, 2010

DePuy release a statement today that they two products being recalled were: the ASR XL Acetabular System, a hip socket used in traditional hip replacement, and the ASR Hip Resurfacing System, a partial hip replacement ...

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

Workers' Compensation: Metal-on-Metal Hip Implants: FDA Issues a ...

Jan 17, 2013

Johnson and Johnson has recalled 2 Hip Implants because of failure. The two implants were made by the DePuy Orthopaedics unit of Johnson and Johnson. The decision to withdrawn the products was based upon the fact .

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

Jobs....a long way to go

The workers' compensation market/business is dependent on employment. The newly released statistics, while appearing encouraging, might not be so after all.

Despite today's promising numbers report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, some believe that the US has a very long way to go to get to full employment. Repeating the golden years is a very difficult road.

I commented a few years ago (Is The Recovery Of The Workers’ Compensation System An Illusion?) that workers' compensation is not necessarily anti-cyclical, ie. does not necessarily do better in down markets. That has been reflected in decreased manufacturing and insurance carrier insolvencies.

Law Schools Should Establish Workers' Compensation Law Firms

Today the NY Times reports that law schools through the nation are opening law firms for recent graduates creating new post graduate job opportunities for debt ridden students and for additional training. The field of workers' compensation law is a fertile opportunity to benefit injured workers, new lawyers and academia.

Click here to read: To Place Graduates, Law Schools Are Opening Firms

Related articles

• The Obama Agenda: The Road to Workplace Wellness (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Universal Medical and Workers' Compensation: It's Not "If", It's "When" - California (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• NFL, Like M.D.'s, Was Slow to Recognize Concussion Risk =Orentlicher & David (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Knee Replacement Medical Device Recalled (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Out-of-State Work-Related Injuries: What You Need to Know (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)
• Misclassification Fraud Across the Country (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

NJ Gas Station Owner Agrees to Pay $3 Million in Back Wages to Employees

Daniyal Enterprises LLC and owner Waseem Chaudhary, and other companies owned and operated by Chaudhary, have agreed to pay $2 million in overtime back wages and an additional $1 million in liquidated damages to 417 workers employed at 72 of Chaudhary’s New Jersey gas stations after investigations by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The department also has assessed $91,000 in civil money penalties against this employer because of the repeat and willful nature of the violations. Additionally, the employer has agreed to take proactive measures, including a three-year monitoring program at each gas station, to ensure future FLSA compliance.

“This agreement returns hard-earned wages to workers in one of only two states that still mandates full-service gas pumps,” said acting Secretary of Labor Seth D. Harris. “All gas station owners and operators in New Jersey should take note of this precedent by reviewing their payroll practices and legal obligations. Gas station attendants are few in number, earn low wages, work long hours and often lack English proficiency – factors that contribute to their vulnerability as well as the importance of protecting their right to be paid properly.”