Quote of the day
"Why do we know so little about insurance fraud? Why, after so many years of effort to control workers' comp fraud and abuse by claimants, medical providers and employers, do we know so little about how we're doing?"
Peter Rousmaniere, Vermont-based writer and columnist
L.A. Valley Lawyer Charged with Embezzling Clients’ Funds
An Encino attorney with a reported history of disciplinary violations is arrested on charges of embezzling more than $300,000 from his clients’ personal injury, workers’ compensation, and wrongful termination settlement funds between June 2003 and June 2004. By AP via San Luis Obispo Tribune [Sixth Item] Go to the Full Story…
Injured Chicago Worker Wins $1.7 Million Judgment
A 51-year-old machinist who was hurt in 2000 while operating heavy machinery and then re-injured herself six months later after she was back on regular duty receives a $1.7 million award in a lawsuit against her former employer. By Demetrius Patterson, Chicago Defender
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Commentary: ‘Why Do We Know So Little About Insurance Fraud?’
Vermont writer Peter Rousmaniere discusses the lack of known knowns in measuring the extent of insurance fraud. By Peter Rousmaniere, Risk & Insurance
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Ohio A.G. Candidate Wants State to Cough Up for Records Suit
Ohio State Sen. Marc Dann, the Democratic candidate for state attorney general, asks the Ohio Supreme Court to order the state to pay more than $52,000 for attorneys’ fees he incurred in his public-record lawsuit against Republican Gov. Bob Taft. Dann sued Taft last year to disclose documents related to the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation’s $50 million investment in rare coins and a $215 million hedge fund loss. Toledo Blade
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Wyoming Suit Challenges Inclusion of Wife’s Income in Comp Calculation
A former Wyoming oil rigger who was disabled in a 1984 workplace incident is suing the state in federal district court for including his wife’s income in calculating his worker’s compensation benefits. The lawsuit seeks to have declared unconstitutional a 1993 Wyoming law that allows the state to consider all household income in determining eligibility for extended workers comp benefits. By Joan Barron, Casper Star-Tribune
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Kin of Boston Scaffold Collapse Victim Sues Contractor, Manufacturer
The family of a 41-year-old worker killed this spring in downtown Boston when a construction platform he had been helping to dismantle collapsed 13 stories sues the general contractor and the company that manufactured the scaffolding. The suit alleges that the laborer lacked proper oversight, equipment or safety inspections. WHDH-TV (Boston) [With Video] Go to the Full Story…
Mountain State Firefighters Could Have Applied for Benefits
Fifteen Martinsburg, W.V. firefighters who sued the city because they thought they could not pursue workers’ compensation claims find out they could have applied for it after all. The firefighters did not claim a present injury but sought regular medical monitoring to detect diseases related to diesel exhaust inhalation. By Steve Korris, West Virginia Record
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Commentary: BrickStreet Making Needed Changes
As approximately 2,000 employers have their workers’ comp policies canceled for failure to pay second-half premiums that averaged only $700, The Wheeling News-Register expresses hope that the ultimate result of BrickStreet Mutual’s reform of a train wreck of a workers’ compensation system is a new one that is fair to West Virginia’s employers and employees and taxpayers. Wheeling News-Register
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Were Kansas Firefighters Exposed to Toxic Smoke?
Sheriff’s deputies and Garden City, Kan. firefighters may have been exposed to toxic smoke while responding to a July manufacturing plant fire, although it is not yet known what chemicals were stored in the building, All responding deputies have filed workers’ compensation paperwork in case health complications arise. By AP via Kansas City Star
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