Category Archives: Uncategorized

WA Workers Who Lose Limbs Will Receive State-Of-The-Art Care at New Center of Excellence for Amputations Thanks to Partnership Between Medical Center and L&I

Today’s post was shared by WC CompNewsNetwork and comes from www.workerscompensation.com. This is, potentially, great news if it can avoid the stall and delay tactics sometimes encountered in an injury claim, particularly those where separate insurance companies are involved. – kc

Tumwater, WA (WorkersCompensation.com) – Amputations are among the worst on-the-job injuries. Each year, about 25 workers in Washington suffer from amputations so serious — lost arms, hands, legs or feet — that they require ongoing specialized care. The medical care and assistance these injured workers receive are key to their physical and mental recovery.

The Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) and Harborview Medical Center today announced a new agreement to provide focused help for the most traumatic on-the-job amputations. The two organizations have worked together to create a new Center of Excellence for medical care for amputees.

Harborview, part of UW Medicine, is already nationally recognized for its work with amputees. Thanks to the agreement, workers with amputations can now have their ongoing medical care managed by UW Medicine physicians and staff at the new Center of Excellence.

Traumatic amputations increase the complexity of patients’ medical needs. These cases often involve multiple types of health care providers working together.

"We want these catastrophically injured workers to know that we’re going to be there for them," said Joel Sacks, director of L&I. "By improving the coordination of care, workers with amputations can concentrate on recovery and not feel overwhelmed with details."

Workers will leave the hospital with a discharge plan that carefully coordinates follow-up appointments with specialists. Then the…

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Give Seniors and Veterans the Same 3.9% Raise that Top CEOs Got

Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from www.erickingson.com

For only the third time in 40 years, seniors and other Social Security beneficiaries won’t get a cost of living adjustment (COLA) in 2016. Neither will Americans who receive Veterans and SSI benefits.

There’s no benefit adjustment this year for seniors, people with disabilities, Veterans and others. That’s just plain wrong! CEO’s got a raise — seniors deserve one, too.

This is no way to treat the 152,000 Social Security beneficiaries living in the Congressional District represented by John Katko. No way to treat 60 million Social Security beneficiaries across the country, and our Veterans, who have earned these benefits through hard work and sacrifice.

That’s why I’m calling on Rep. Katko to support Elizabeth Warren’s and Tammy Duckworth’s Seniors and Veterans Emergency (SAVE) Benefits Act to give seniors and Veterans a modest one-time payment — an average of about $581. And why I’m calling him on him and Speaker Ryan to pledge that they will oppose all benefit cuts and support a more accurate way of measuring inflation so that seniors are not shortchanged. Will you join me?

Social Security beneficiaries get an average of just $15,936 a year. That represents half or more of the income for two out of three senior beneficiaries. No wonder they can’t afford to see their benefits eaten away by inflation.

We need to rewrite the rules so that seniors and working people aren’t shortchanged while the rich get…

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VT Gov. Shumlin Calls Out Drug Companies for Super Bowl Ad Promoting Opiates

Today’s post was shared by WC CompNewsNetwork and comes from www.workerscompensation.com

Montpelier, VT (WorkersCompensation.com) – After a baffling Super Bowl advertisement promoting a drug to help Americans take more opiates, Gov. Peter Shumlin is calling on the two drug companies that paid for it to pull the ad off the air and instead use the money to fund opiate and heroin prevention and treatment programs. In a letter to the drug makers, the Governor called the ad poorly timed and a shameful attempt to exploit America’s addiction crisis to boost corporate profits.

The minute-long advertisement for opioid-induced constipation (OIC) – a condition brought on by long-term opioid use – comes at a time when America is battling a full-blown opiate and heroin addiction crisis. Gov. Shumlin has placed the blame for that crisis at the feet of the Food and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) and pharmaceutical industry, which together have enabled pain management practices that in 2012 resulted in the issuing of enough opiate prescriptions to give every American their own bottle of pills.

“The irrational exuberance with which opiates are handed out in America is driving the addiction crisis in this country,” Gov. Shumlin wrote in a letter to the drug companies that paid for the ad. “Now is the time to change that, not attempt to further normalize long-term opiate use by advertising a drug to help people take even more opiates…”

The ad was paid for by drug makers AstraZeneca and Daiichi-Sankyo, which make the OIC treatment drug…

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Uber drivers win Seattle vote on collective-bargaining rights

Today’s post was shared by Workers Compensation and comes from www.propertycasualty360.com

While the Seattle vote is aimed at giving drivers more of a say in their job conditions, it’s not clear how this will work in practice with Uber, Lyft and any other car-booking company. (Photo: Thinkstock)
While the Seattle vote is aimed at giving drivers more of a say in their job conditions, it’s not clear how this will work in practice with Uber, Lyft and any other car-booking company. (Photo: Thinkstock)

(Bloomberg) — Seattle’s City Council voted unanimously to give collective bargaining rights to drivers-for-hire, such as those who work for ride-share companies Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc.

The bill, proposed by city council member Mike O’Brien, requires taxicab and for-hire car companies to negotiate with a "driver representative" over the terms and conditions of work, if a sufficient number of drivers choose to be represented.

For-hire drivers are generally considered independent contractors by the companies who employ them, and aren’t covered by the National Labor Relations Act, which allows collective bargaining. Independent contractors also aren’t entitled to labor standards such as minimum wage, health and safety guidelines or reimbursements for work-related costs. While the Seattle vote is aimed at giving drivers more of a say in their job conditions, it’s not clear how this will work in practice with Uber, Lyft and any other car-booking company.

"Lyft drivers are entirely in control of where or when they work, and this flexibility is exactly why the service is so popular with with people looking to make extra income," said Sheila Bryson, a spokeswoman for San Francisco-based Lyft. "Unfortunately,…

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Congress extends the Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act

Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from workers-compensation.blogspot.com

The United States Congress has voted to extend the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act as part of a major spending bill that now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law. The bill will extend the World Trade Center Health Program to 2090, and provide full compensation to survivors and first responders through the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund.

The two programs were in the process of shutting down after Congress missed a September 30 reauthorization deadline. In the end, 68 Senators, and 272 House Members backed the bill.

“Our courageous first responders stepped up when our country needed them the most . During the September 11thattacks, thousands of brave first responders sacrificed their safety for the good of our country and as a result have been forced to battle serious health issues,” said U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ). “In New Jersey, over 5,000 survivors and first responders still require medical treatment because of their exposure in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. The permanent extension of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act will enable us to give these courageous Americans the respect and care they rightly deserve.”

“As someone who first introduced the Zadroga Act and had to fight to pass it that first time, I am thrilled that we are fulfilling our moral obligation as a grateful nation to support our first responders and send a powerful message to all future first responders that we…

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U.S. Veterans: ‘Burn Pits’ Created Toxic Clouds That Led To Ailments

Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from kuow.org

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  • A U.S. airman tosses uniforms into a burn pit at Balad Air Base, Iraq, in 2008. The military destroyed uniforms, equipment and other materials in huge burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some veterans now say those pits are responsible for respiratory problems they are now experiencing.
    A U.S. airman tosses uniforms into a burn pit at Balad Air Base, Iraq, in 2008. The military destroyed uniforms, equipment and other materials in huge burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some veterans now say those pits are responsible for respiratory problems they are now experiencing.

In 2008, Army Reserve Capt. LeRoy Torres returned home to Robstown, Texas, after a tour in Iraq. He went back to work as a state trooper with the Texas Highway Patrol.

Torres was a long-time runner. So when a suspect took-off on foot one morning, Torres sprinted after him. But something was wrong. A burning sensation in his chest hurt so bad, it almost knocked him down.

"I was able to catch-up, but afterwards, my goodness, I remember just — I laid on the ground, I was so exhausted," Torres says. "One of my buddies said, ‘Man what’s wrong?’ I said, ‘Man I don’t know. I just feel really, really tired — my chest feels really tight. I don’t know.’ I couldn’t catch my breath."

A few years later, Torres was diagnosed with a rare disease called constrictive bronchiolitis. Scars in his lungs block the flow of air.

He’s among a growing number of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who believe their respiratory ailments are linked to burn pits. These were acres-wide mounds of waste near bases that contained everything from batteries to vehicle scraps to amputated body parts. The refuse was usually ignited with jet fuel.

"What people don’t…

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Employer Permitted to Use Facebook Photos to Challenge Injured Workers Claims Without Prior Notice

Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from workers-compensation.blogspot.com

Editor’s note: Make a New Years resolution to verify your Facebook privacy settings are secure. kc

An employer was permitted to utilize photographs taken from Claimant’s public Facebook as impeachment evidence without prior notice to Claimant. Public Facebook photographs of Claimant holding her grandson with her injured arm and hand as impeachment evidence against Claimant.

The Employer did not have to provide prior notice to the Claimant of "video" evidence.

Court held that it was not prejudicial to admit the Claimant’s Facebook images into evidence.

MacFadyen v Total Care Physicians, C.A. No. N15A–05–001 ALR, 2015 WL 9303624 (2015 Del.Super.), Decided December 15, 2015.

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Social Security: Burn Pit Lung Illness is a Disability

Today’s post was shared by Jon L Gelman and comes from burnpitclaims.blogspot.com

The Social Security Disability program has listed Obliterative Bronchiolitis as a disability under its Compassionate Allowances Conditions (CAL). Obliterative Bronchiolitis is a pulmonary/lung disability causally connected to exposure to burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In addition to Social Security benefits, the pending Burn Pit Lawsuit seeks compensation, medical care and future medical monitoring for those veterans, private military contractors and civilian employees who have been exposed. The case is now pending in US District Court and the Court has permitted people to be added to the case (see below).

Social Security Compassionate Allowances (CAL) are a way of quickly identifying diseases and other medical conditions that invariably qualify under the Listing of Impairments based on minimal objective medical information. Compassionate Allowances allow Social Security to target the most obviously disabled individuals for allowances based on objective medical information that can be obtain quickly. Compassionate Allowances is not a separate program from the Social Security Disability Insurance or Supplemental Security Income programs.

“Obliterative Bronchiolitis (OB) is a rare, irreversible, life-threatening form of interstitial lung disease that occurs when the small airway branches of the lungs (bronchioles) are compressed and narrowed by scar tissue (fibrosis) and inflammation. Extensive scarring results in decreased lung function. Causes of OB include collagen…

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Opioid epidemic continues in Washington

Today’s post was shared by WC CompNewsNetwork and comes from www.workerscompensation.com

Olympia, WA (WorkersCompensation.com) – New Washington health data shows a significant drop in deaths from prescription narcotics in recent years. Tragically, the decline is offset by a doubling of the number of heroin deaths in our state during the same time. Both heroin and prescription narcotics are types of drugs known as opioids.

Data from 2014 state vital statistics records show the number of deaths from prescription narcotics has steadily dropped from a peak of 512 deaths in 2008 to 319 in 2014. At the same time, heroin killed 293 people in Washington last year, about twice as many as in 2008. Overall, the number of deaths from opioid overdose in Washington remains at about 600 a year.

“Across our state, we are seeing the terrible effects of heroin and prescription narcotics on our families, friends and communities,” said Governor Jay Inslee. “Although more must be done, we’ve made significant progress in reducing overprescribing of opioids, and with health care reform, a record number of families who just a few years ago had no medical coverage and limited means to regain their health, can now seek treatment for substance use disorders.”

Washington was one of the first states to recognize and respond to the national epidemic of deaths due to prescription narcotic overdoses. The decline in these deaths in Washington is likely in part due to groundbreaking prescribing guidelines originally developed in 2007 and updated this year.

State…

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Workers’ Compensation Emerging Issues: Will 2016 Be the Year Opt Out Legislation Catches Fire?

Today’s post was shared by WC CompNewsNetwork and comes from www.lexisnexis.com

By Thomas A. Robinson, Co-Editor-in-Chief, Workers’ Compensation Emerging Issues Analysis

We are pleased to present the 2015 Workers’ Compensation Emerging Issues Analysis (“WCEIA”). With this third, annual edition, we offer a diverse collection of expert analysis, incisive commentary, interesting case summaries and legislative updates from all across our nation. Geared not just for practicing attorneys, this volume offers risk managers, insurance brokers and executives, claims adjusters, HR experts and academic researchers relevant insights, practice points, and other pertinent takeaways that will enhance your work.

2016: Is This The Year Opt Out Legislation Catches Fire?

As depicted on this edition’s cover and as Lex Larson and I point out in the volume’s opening article, 2016 seems poised as the year of the opt out debate. The successful Oklahoma legislation is now two years old. Proponents and opponents alike are pointing to alleged successes and failures. Constitutional challenges to the law will likely move to the Oklahoma Supreme Court by mid-year. The debate has spilled over to other states.

For example, when both Tennessee and South Carolina closed their 2015 legislative sessions, each had pending one or more opt out bills that state legislators indicate will be resubmitted early in 2016 for debate and consideration. While most of the current opt out action is limited to the Southeast, workers’ compensation experts from all…

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