Quote of the day
"Of prime consideration here is the fact that we had such a huge amount of workers' compensation fraud in this one case."
Lauren Hersh, California Department of Insurance spokeswoman, on criminal charges against a Modesto chiropractor in one of the Central Valley's largest-ever cases of insurance fraud.
Major Central Valley Insurance Fraud Case Set to Begin
Modesto chiropractor Wilmer Origel is scheduled to stand trial in June on charges of defrauding insurers and workers’ compensation out of $6 million. San Joaquin County prosecutors allege he and other chiropractors billed insurers for performing a controversial, possibly illegal procedure known as “adjustment under anesthesia.” By Inga Miller, Modesto Bee [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
Santa Susana Workers Seek Federal Comp
Former employees of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Ventura County are part of a nationwide group of Cold War-era weapons manufacturing workers fighting a bureaucracy that has denied them federal compensation for chemical or radiation exposure-related illnesses under the Energy Employee Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. By Teresa Rochester, Ventura County Star
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Civilian NYC Employees Collecting Sept. 11-Related Workers’ Comp
Seven New York civilian workers with the city’s fire and police departments and its Office of Management and Budget have stayed off work with injuries and collected workers’ compensation benefits since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, even though they were not first responders to the catastrophe. By Maggie Haberman, New York Post
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Connecticut Mayoral Candidates Agree on Workers’ Comp Bill
Two Democratic candidates for mayor of Bridgeport, Conn., are co-sponsors of a bill that could cost the city millions of dollars in added medical costs for police, firefighters and emergency medical workers. The bill would require municipalities to research potential causes of individual claims and would give heart and hypertension-related job benefits for thousands of police and firefighters hired after July 1, 1996, when such coverage ended. By Ken Dixon, Connecticut Post
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South Carolina GOP: ‘Prepared to Work All Summer’
Lawmakers in the Palmetto State won’t go home for the summer unless and until they pass, among other measures, workers’ compensation reform and income tax cuts, House Republican leaders announce. By Zane Wilson, Myrtle Beach Sun
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This Summer Sounds Safer in Manitoba
As the province’s summer construction season gets underway, the Manitoba Workers Compensation Board unveils a new safety awareness campaign called “Sounds of Construction.” The labor minister says 20 new workplace safety officers will be hired over the next two years. By Rochelle Squires, Winnipeg Sun
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City Leaves New Mexico Widower in Limbo
An Albuquerque man still does not know if the city will pay him workers’ compensation for the death of his wife who died taking meter readings at a landfill pit. A medical examiner’s report lists the cause of death as “undetermined,” while a separate report to the city’s life insurance company concludes that she died due to lack of oxygen, and the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau issued four citations to the city for failing to classify the pit as a hazardous confined space. By Peter Rice, Albuquerque Tribune
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