Quote of the day
"Our position on pain pumps is that we routinely deny them. We think long-term use of opiates, the kind of medicine they deliver, compound the kind of problems that injured workers have. They become addicted and need more and more. We have not seen any evidence that there is a benefit to an injured worker."
Robert Nelson, Washington Department of Labor and Industries spokesman
Florida Tree Service Firm Owner Charged with Fraud
The 26-year-old owner of a Jacksonville, Fla. tree-trimming firm is charged with workers’ compensation fraud for failing to provide proper coverage in connection with the electrocution of a 21-year-old worker who died after his equipment touched a power line in mid-June. WJXT-TV (Jacksonville) via Yahoo! News
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Minnesota-Based State Fund Mutual Chooses ‘Simpler’ Name
Minnesota and Wisconsin workers’ compensation insurer State Fund Mutual renames itself SFM, saying that the new, “simpler” name will reflect its presence in multiple states. Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal
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Coalition Wants Ballot Referendum to Stop Workers’ Comp Changes
In Ohio, unions and trial lawyers are trying to get a referendum on the November ballot that would stop the state from enforcing changes in workers’ compensation laws that reduce the period in which an injured worker can file claims and eliminates payments for some loss of limb. By AP via the Vindicator (Youngstown, Ohio)
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Pataki Likely to Grant Filing Reprieve to Ground Zero Workers
New York Gov. George Pataki says he is “strongly inclined” to sign a bill that would give tens of thousands of non-uniformed Ground Zero workers who missed the two-year filing deadline for workers’ compensation claims another chance to apply for benefits. Many workers say they did not discover they were sick until the limitations period had expired. WNBC (New York)
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Former N.Y. State Lawmaker Tapped for Workers’ Comp Board
Former New York State Assemblyman Glenn Warren is named new executive director of the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. Warren has been the board’s deputy executive director of administration since 1995. Business Review (Albany)
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Injured Worker Wonders Why State Won’t Pay for ‘Pain Pump’
Six compensated surgeries for 63-year-old Washington Department of Natural Resources employee Don Roller’s back injury failed to alleviate his constant pain, but a portable device that delivers pain-relieving medication directly to his spine has given him “a whole new lease on life.” The Washington Department of Labor and Industries, which runs the DNR’s workers’ comp plan, refuses to pay for such devices. By Adam Wilson, the Olympian [With Photo] Go to the Full Story…
Watchdog: Energy Dept. Interferes in Hanford Workers’ Comp Claims
A watchdog says the Department of Energy routinely interferes with compensation claims for work-related illnesses at Washington’s Hanford Nuclear Reservation. By Carol Cizauskas, Northwest Public Radio [With Audio] Go to the Full Story…
Mountain State Tries Mediation
As its workers’ compensation docket began outpacing all other kinds of litigation, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals decided to try a different approach: mediation, which some believe preserves the employer-employee relationship because the parties work together, rather than litigate, medical costs and wage issues. By Juliet A. Terry, State Journal
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Worker Says Boss Retaliated Against Him for Filing Comp Claim
A Charleston, W.V. worker contends in a lawsuit that his supervisor forced him to quit his maintenance job because he filed a workers’ compensation claim, and that when his doctor allowed him to return to work provided he wear a back brace, his employer supplied one that did not fit and would not replace it. By John O’Brien, West Virginia Record
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Workers’ Comp Costs Sunshine State Staffing Firm in 2Q
Tampa-based staffing company Ablest Inc. reports that it lost money on increased revenue for the second quarter because of higher than expected workers’ compensation expense accruals. Tampa Bay Business Journal
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