The prescribing of topical pain-management creams rose in 2017 workers compensation claims that were not monitored by pharmacy benefits managers, according to a report released Wednesday by Coventry Workers Comp. The second in a series covering workers comp drugs trends, Downers Grove, Illinois-based Coventry compared its 2017 data on managed claims, representing 77.6% of total comp prescriptions, and unmanaged claims,…
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is reminding individuals and organizations sponsoring fireworks displays in Illinois to be sure their fireworks vendor has the required state licenses and certificates issued by the IDNR and the Office of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM) prior to their fireworks show. The Illinois Explosives Act requires that anyone who purchases, possesses, uses, transfers,…
Hospital outpatient payments were higher and growing faster in states with percent-of-charge-based fee regulations or no fee schedules, finds a study from the Workers Compensation Research Institute (WCRI) that compares 35 states. States with percent-of-charge-based fee regulations had substantially higher hospital outpatient payments per surgical episode than states with fixed-amount fee schedules—30 to 196 percent higher than the median of…
By Dr. Laura Gardner, Vice President, Products, CLARA Analytics Putting the injured worker first is key to the “advocacy-based claims model,” which puts the worker at the center of all activity. “It focuses on improving the injured worker’s experience. Until now, most employers have focused on corporate outcomes. Goals such as cutting costs and reducing days lost. But experts now…
An Elmhurst couple whose infant daughter died at a west suburban day care has filed a lawsuit against the business, alleging that understaffing and negligence led to the child’s death. The wrongful death lawsuit was filed Tuesday in DuPage County against Tender Harts, a day care operated in a Lombard residence. The suit alleges 3-month-old Tessa McDaniel was left unattended…
A Mount Prospect man has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $50,000 in damages against the Elk Grove Village woman who drove the vehicle that struck and killed his wife in a pedestrian crosswalk in June. Plaintiff Eric T. Jakubowski is identified as the administrator of the estate of his late wife, Joni Beaudry, in the wrongful death suit against…
Falls and struck-by incidents continue to cause the largest number of work-related deaths statewide based on preliminary information released today by the state Department of Labor. Struck-by incidents accounted for the most work-related deaths with 19, while falls accounted for 12 deaths. The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Division inspected 48 work-related deaths last year. “Year after year, we see…
An Illinois state appeals panel has upheld a Cook County judge’s decision that the Four Seasons in Chicago was not obligated to warn guests about a wet marble bathroom floor, saying the condition posed a danger that should have been open and obvious. Justice Nathaniel Howse Jr. wrote the appellate court order. Justices Cynthia Cobbs and James Fitzgerald Smith concurred….
A mother is suing Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and others, citing alleged medical negligence. Kris Gonzalez, individually and as mother of her son, and Juan Gonzalez filed a complaint June 14 in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging the defendants failed to provide her son with appropriate emergency room care, treatment and supervision to treat his…
A federal jury has handed a win to North Chicago-based drugmaker Abbvie, as it continues to seek to fend off a mass of legal claims accusing the company’s testosterone replacement therapy drug, Androgel, of causing heart attacks and other cardiovascular conditions. On June 14, the Chicago jury found Abbvie not liable for any of the medical conditions plaintiff Robert Rowley…
