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...

[Click here to see the rest of this post]

….

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.

Found on

Related articles

• State of New Jersey Issues Mandatory Quarantine Order for Dr. Nancy Snyderman and Crew (planetprinceton.com)

Read more about Ebola:

Workers' Compensation: Ebola lawsuits would face high ...

Oct 07, 2014

Potential suits against the Dallas, Texas hospital that sent home a patient later diagnosed with Ebola face long odds in the face of state medical malpractice laws. Texas tort-reform measures have made it one of the hardest ...

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

As US Ebola Fears Widen, Reports of Possible Cases Grow

Oct 06, 2014

Infections are a major issue in workers' compensation claims. As health workers continue to become exposed to Ebola virus the question remain what action the Federal government will take to ease the burden upon the ...

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

Workers' Compensation: Ebola: An 18% Chance Became ...

Oct 06, 2014

Infections diseases are a living nightmare for all, including workers, employers and their insurance carriers. An 18% change of Ebola entering the US, quickly changed to 100% last week. Is the US doing ALL it can to prevent ...

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

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 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...

[Click here to see the rest of this post]


Read more about Hepatitis:

Workers' Compensation: Maker of Costly Hepatitis C Drug ...

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 ...

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

Workers' Compensation: World Hepatitis Day: Think again

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 ...

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

What Impact Will Hepatitis C Drugs Have on Medical Costs?

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 ...

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

1000 a pill: Will that kill or cure workers' compenstion

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 ...

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

Found on

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.

….

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:

NJ Workers' Compensation Premiums Ranked 3rd Highest ...

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 ...

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

NJ Workers Compensation Premiums Go Up for 2013

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

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

Workers' Compensation: Work Comp Premiums Linked to ...

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 ...

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

Workers' Compensation: NY Work Comp Premiums ...

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 ...

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

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.

Related articles

• Labor Department Says System Protecting Workers From Deadly Chemicals Is 'Broken' (huffingtonpost.com)
• OSHA: Wireless Horizon tower collapse results in deaths of 2 cell tower worker (workers-compensation.blogspot.com)

"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...

[Click here to see the rest of this post]

Found on

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...

[Click here to see the rest of this post]

Found on

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...

[Click here to see the rest of this post]

….

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.

Found on

Related articles

• CDC Vital Signs: Motor Vehicle Crash Injuries: Costly but Preventable (cdc.gov)
• Vital Signs: Health Burden and Medical Costs of Nonfatal Injuries to Motor Vehicle Occupants - United States, 2012 (cdc.gov)