See: Thomson Reuters News & Insight
"It is a historic decision in so far as it is the first time that a (pesticide) maker is found guilty of such a poisoning," François Lafforgue, Francois's lawyer, told Reuters.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Monsanto guilty of chemical poisoning in France
See: Thomson Reuters News & Insight
"It is a historic decision in so far as it is the first time that a (pesticide) maker is found guilty of such a poisoning," François Lafforgue, Francois's lawyer, told Reuters.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Pair sentenced to 16 years in Italy asbestos trial
Pair sentenced to 16 years in Italy asbestos trial - Telegraph:
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| Prosecutor Raffaele Guariniello is surrounded by media at the Turin courthouse, Italy |
Stephan Schmidheiny, the former owner of a company making Eternit fibre cement, and Jean-Louis Marie Ghislain de Cartier de Marchienne, a major shareholder, were sentenced in absentia after being found guilty of causing an environmental disaster and failing to comply with safety regulations.
NIOSH To Review Underreporting of Occupartional Injuries and Illnesses by Workers
Image via WikipediaNational Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has proposed a project to review the Underreporting of Occupational Injuries and Illnesses by Workers.
"In 2008, the Congressional Committee on Education and Labor released the report, “Hidden Tragedy: Underreporting of Workplace Injuries and Illnesses,” indicating “that work-related injuries and illnesses in the United States are chronically and even grossly underreported.” Based in part on the report's results, Congress allocated funds for NIOSH to conduct a follow-up study using NIOSH's occupational supplement to the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS-Work) to estimate underreporting among individuals who seek care at an emergency department (ED) for an occupational illness, injury, or exposure.
"Objectives for this project are to (1) assess the reporting behavior of workers that are injured, ill, or exposed to a harmful substance at work; (2) characterize the chronic aspects of work-related injuries or illnesses; and (3) estimate the prevalence of work-related chronic injuries and illnesses among United States workers treated in EDs. Particular attention will be paid to self-employed workers, workers with work-related illnesses, and workers with chronic health problems.
"Data collection for the telephone interview survey will be done via a questionnaire containing questions about the respondent's injury, illness, or exposure that sent them to the ED; the characteristics of the job they were working when they were injured, became ill, or were exposed; their experiences reporting their injury, illness, or exposure to the ED and their employer (if applicable); the presence of an underlying chronic condition that was associated with their ED visit; and the nature of any other work-related chronic conditions they have experienced. The questionnaire was designed to take 30 minutes to complete and includes a brief series of questions to screen out individuals who were not seen in the ED for a work-related injury, illness, or exposure; who are younger than age 20 or older than age 64; who do not speak English or Spanish; or who were working as volunteers or day laborers when the injury, illness, or exposure occurred or was made worse.
77 FR 6803 2/9/2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Santorum: Selling Health Care the Apple Way
 |
| Source: NY Times |
In Woodland Park, Colorado, at a campaign stop Rick Sanatorium policy The National Journal reported:
"A young boy asked the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania what he would do to keep prescription drugs affordable. Another woman in the audience chimed in that she couldn't afford her $900-a-month prescription.
"Santorum compared the costs to buying an iPad. "People have no problem going out and buying an iPad for $900,” he said. “But paying $200 for a drug they have a problem with -- that keeps you alive. Why? Because you've been conditioned in thinking health care is something you should get and not have to pay for."
This conservative dogma ironically conflicts with the social, economic and moral philosophy of the majority of Americans. It is one thing to reduce benefits due to austerity measures, it is quite another thing to just eliminate them outright because of a conservative doctrine.
The path toward federalization will not be an easy one. There will be those who argue for elimination based on ideology, religion and cost. Workers' Compensation programs initially were met with such challenges, and those issues were surmounted.
Comparing the purchase of life-saving drugs to the purchase of an iPad, is just wrong. Those living in abject poverty don't buy iPads monthly. They need their prescription drugs to live. The companies that exposed workers to toxins, and then deny them workers' compensation benefits when they become ill, should not then pull the medical safety-net from under them. It is immoral to deny poverty-stricken ill workers medical care.
Selling the "option" of health and safety to American workers goes against the basic tenants of the century old system of workers' compensation. Healthcare, including, infections and diseases, impact all Americans. Much more creatively needs to be expressed rather just proposing cost shifting to those who obviously can't pay the cost.
Comparing the purchase of life-saving drugs to the purchase of an iPad, is just wrong. Those living in abject poverty don't buy iPads monthly. They need their prescription drugs to live. The companies that exposed workers to toxins, and then deny them workers' compensation benefits when they become ill, should not then pull the medical safety-net from under them. It is immoral to deny poverty-stricken ill workers medical care.
Selling the "option" of health and safety to American workers goes against the basic tenants of the century old system of workers' compensation. Healthcare, including, infections and diseases, impact all Americans. Much more creatively needs to be expressed rather just proposing cost shifting to those who obviously can't pay the cost.
See The New York Times report: Even Critics of Safety Net Increasingly Depend on It
"Dozens of benefits programs provided an average of $6,583 for each man, woman and child in the county in 2009, a 69 percent increase from 2000 after adjusting for inflation. In Chicago, and across the nation, the government now provides almost $1 in benefits for every $4 in other income."
Saturday, February 11, 2012
US Labor Department announces comprehensive final rule on H-2B foreign labor certification program
 Image via Wikipedia |
| Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis |
The U.S. Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration and its Wage and Hour Division today announced a final rule to improve the H-2B temporary nonagricultural worker program. The rule, to be published in the Feb. 21 edition of the Federal Register, includes changes to several aspects of the program to ensure that U.S. workers receive greater access to jobs and strengthens worker protections.
The H-2B program allows the entry of foreign workers into the United States on a temporary basis when qualified U.S. workers are not available, and the employment of those foreign workers will not adversely affect the wages and working conditions of U.S. workers. The H-2B program is limited by law to a cap of 66,000 visas per year.
"The H-2B program is designed to help businesses when there is a temporary shortage of U.S. workers," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "The rule announced today will ensure that the program is used as intended by making these jobs more accessible to U.S. workers and providing stronger protections for every worker."
The department responded to comments received from employers and worker advocates in drafting the final rule, providing employers with greater flexibility and certainty throughout the application and recruitment processes as well as improving U.S. workers' access to jobs. The final rule creates a national registry for all H-2B job postings and increases the amount of time during which U.S. workers must be recruited. The rule also requires the rehiring of former employees when available.
In addition, H-2B program benefits such as transportation costs and wages will be extended to U.S. workers performing substantially the same work as H-2B workers. Worker protections also will be strengthened by enhanced transparency throughout the employment process.
The rule will be effective on April 23. It can be viewed at http://s.dol.gov/MZ. Materials, including fact sheets, are available athttp://www.foreignlaborcert.doleta.gov/h-2b.cfm and http://www.dol.gov/whd/immigration/H2BFinalRule/index.htm.
Related articles
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Stephen Levin MD - Dies of Cancer
After the passing of Dr. Selikoff, Dr. Levin chaired the Environmental Sciences Department and maintained the archives of Dr. Selikoff. Dr. Levin was a leader and advocate for occupational disease research and treatment. His research work in post World Trade Center airborne toxins and disease build the foundation for the passage of the Zadroga 9-11 Health Benefits legislation enacted by Congress 14 months ago.
Joel Shufro, Executive Director of NYCOSH and Bill Henny, NYCOSH Board Chair, made the following statement, "He understood that the health of working people was directly tied to the health of the labor movement - that being organized into union or any other formation - was the first and most important step workers could take to protect their safety and health."
Stephen Levin championed the cause for helping victims of environmental and occupational disease. Ironically, like his predecessor, Dr. Selikoff, he also succumbed to cancer, the disease that they both battled against for others. Dr. Levin's will be sadly missed but his legacy will on.
See also:
Dr. Stephen Levin dead of cancer NY Daily News
"As the medical director of Mount Sinai Medical Center’s Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Dr. Stephen Levin had long known how damaging airborne toxins were to unprotected lungs."
A memorial service will take place Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 4 p.m. at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine's Stern Auditorium, 1468 Madison Avenue (@ E. 100th Street, New York, NY 10029.
Workers Compensation: A Cash Cow For Medical Providers
Guest Blog
by Julius Young of the California Bar
Are medical treatment recommendations sometimes driven by profit motive?
In my whole career I've met very few injured workers who expressed concern that the treatment recommendations of their doctor were influenced by physician income considerations.
Americans tend to trust their doctors. Some of us grew up watching Dr. Kildare, Ben Casey, or the MASH doctors. Others cut their teeth on ER or General Hospital.
Nothing pisses off an injured worker as much as having an outside, non-examining utilization reviewer doctor challenge the recommendations of their doctor.
But the reality is that sometimes medicine and economics are intertwined. Just as insurers want to limit costs, there are some doctors who are happy to push procedures and tests for profit.
In a prior post, "Upcoding", I noted recent investigative reporting by California Watch that documented unusually high rates of billings for "cardiac failure" in some California hospitals:
http://workerscompzone.com/index.php?m=11&y=11
So it was no surprise to see today's article in the Wall Street Journal which documents high rates of spinal surgery procedures in some California hospitals. The article, "In Small California Hospitals, the Marketing of Back Surgery", was written by John Carreyrou, Tom McGinty and Joel Millman.
The article focuses on spinal surgery at Tri-City Regional Medical Center in the city of Hawaiian Gardens which is in southeast Los Angeles County near Long Beach.
According to the Wall Street Journal investigative reporters:
"For an operation known as spinal fusion, which joins two or more vertebrae, the small hospital billed workers' compensation insurers $65 million in 2010, up from less than $3 million three years earlier, state hospital discharge data show.Helping spur the business was Paul Richard Randall, a consultant to whom Tri-City has paid millions of dollars in marketing fees. According to people familiar with his role, it was twofold: bringing surgery cases to the hospital by recruiting surgeons to operate there, and supplying metal implants for the surgeries through distributorships he owned."
The article notes that Randall has been the subject of a federal investigation although charges have apparently not been filed nor have illegal acts been proven.
According to the Journal, many small hospitals are doing lots of workers' comp spinal surgeries, noting that "California employers paid $7.1 billion in insurance premiums to cover their workers' compensation liability in 2010. Spinal-fusion surgery is a growing part of the care these premiums pay for. It accounted for 40% of inpatient hospital charges to the state workers' compensation system in 2010, up from 30% in 2001, a Journal analysis of hospital discharge data shows."
Hospitals that did a large amount of spinal surgeries included university-based hospitals such as UCSF, well known treatment centers such as Cedars Sinai and Scripps La Jolla but also a number of small hospitals around the state.
While it would be unfair to assume that some of the hospitals mentioned in the article are encouraging spinal surgery cases as a "cash cow", the article raises a number of questions worthy of further looks by policymakers.
Spinal hardware costs have already been addressed in a RAND study prepared for CHSWC, "Payment for Hardware Used in Complex Spinal Procedures Under California's Official Medical Fee Schedule", by Barbara O. Wynn and Giacomo Bergamo:
http://www.dir.ca.gov/chswc/Hardware_comp9.pdf
Are medical treatment recommendations sometimes driven by profit motive?
In my whole career I've met very few injured workers who expressed concern that the treatment recommendations of their doctor were influenced by physician income considerations.
Americans tend to trust their doctors. Some of us grew up watching Dr. Kildare, Ben Casey, or the MASH doctors. Others cut their teeth on ER or General Hospital.
Nothing pisses off an injured worker as much as having an outside, non-examining utilization reviewer doctor challenge the recommendations of their doctor.
But the reality is that sometimes medicine and economics are intertwined. Just as insurers want to limit costs, there are some doctors who are happy to push procedures and tests for profit.
In a prior post, "Upcoding", I noted recent investigative reporting by California Watch that documented unusually high rates of billings for "cardiac failure" in some California hospitals:
http://workerscompzone.com/index.php?m=11&y=11
So it was no surprise to see today's article in the Wall Street Journal which documents high rates of spinal surgery procedures in some California hospitals. The article, "In Small California Hospitals, the Marketing of Back Surgery", was written by John Carreyrou, Tom McGinty and Joel Millman.
The article focuses on spinal surgery at Tri-City Regional Medical Center in the city of Hawaiian Gardens which is in southeast Los Angeles County near Long Beach.
According to the Wall Street Journal investigative reporters:
"For an operation known as spinal fusion, which joins two or more vertebrae, the small hospital billed workers' compensation insurers $65 million in 2010, up from less than $3 million three years earlier, state hospital discharge data show.Helping spur the business was Paul Richard Randall, a consultant to whom Tri-City has paid millions of dollars in marketing fees. According to people familiar with his role, it was twofold: bringing surgery cases to the hospital by recruiting surgeons to operate there, and supplying metal implants for the surgeries through distributorships he owned."
The article notes that Randall has been the subject of a federal investigation although charges have apparently not been filed nor have illegal acts been proven.
According to the Journal, many small hospitals are doing lots of workers' comp spinal surgeries, noting that "California employers paid $7.1 billion in insurance premiums to cover their workers' compensation liability in 2010. Spinal-fusion surgery is a growing part of the care these premiums pay for. It accounted for 40% of inpatient hospital charges to the state workers' compensation system in 2010, up from 30% in 2001, a Journal analysis of hospital discharge data shows."
Hospitals that did a large amount of spinal surgeries included university-based hospitals such as UCSF, well known treatment centers such as Cedars Sinai and Scripps La Jolla but also a number of small hospitals around the state.
While it would be unfair to assume that some of the hospitals mentioned in the article are encouraging spinal surgery cases as a "cash cow", the article raises a number of questions worthy of further looks by policymakers.
Spinal hardware costs have already been addressed in a RAND study prepared for CHSWC, "Payment for Hardware Used in Complex Spinal Procedures Under California's Official Medical Fee Schedule", by Barbara O. Wynn and Giacomo Bergamo:
http://www.dir.ca.gov/chswc/Hardware_comp9.pdf
.....
Julius Young is a partner at Boxer & Gerson LLC and has practiced workers' compensation and social security disability law since 1979 advocating for injured workers and their families.. He is the founder, writer, and editor of an award winning blog on workers’ compensation and wider more far ranging and always engaging political issues, http://www.workerscompzone.com/. The blog has twice been selected as winner or co-winner of the top workers’ comp blog in the US by Lexis/Nexis. He was a Board member of the California State Bar Executive Committee in Workers' Compensation from 2007 to 2010. Julius has acted as a training consultant for the US Hastings Employment Law Center Workers’ Compensation Clinic, has acted as an advisor to Worksafe on workers’ compensation and safety issues, and is currently serving on an Advisory Committee re Rand Institute studies at the request of the California Commission on Health, Safety, and Workers’ Compensation.
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