Research released last month shows that food industry worker injury and fatality rates increased at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, triggering regulators to focus on historical problems in food production safety. While pandemic-related pressures on food manufacturing and distribution caused injury rates and fatalities to rise problems existed before COVID-19 hit, the authors of the six-year study said. The…
Vertical integration in medicine is driving up patient care pricing in workers compensation, and provider consolidation is not necessarily translating to improvements in patient outcomes, according to research from the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The study released Thursday, Impact of Medical Provider Consolidation on Workers’ Compensation Payments, examined the impact of provider vertical integration on comp payments, showing how doctor…
A student’s mother filed a negligence lawsuit against the Belle Valley School District #119 and its employees after her son broke his thumb in the school’s locker room. Plaintiff Kaniesha Bennett, on behalf of her minor child Malik Simms, filed the lawsuit in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against the Belle Valley School District #119, superintendent R. Dane Gale,…
A former employee of Feed Products and Service filed a wrongful termination lawsuit, claiming he was fired for seeking worker’s compensation benefits. Plaintiff Thomas Seehausen filed the lawsuit in the Madison County Circuit Court against Feed Products South, Inc., doing business as Feed Products and Service, Co., citing breach of contract, slander, disparate treatment and retaliatory discharge. According to the…
An employee with the City of Collinsville is suing a resident after he allegedly stepped in a hole in the resident’s yard and injured his back while performing his job duties. Plaintiff Russell Friederich filed the lawsuit in the Madison County Circuit Court against defendant Derrick Cox, citing negligence. According to the lawsuit, on March 22, 2021, Friederich was on…
A family is suing FedEx after a contracted driver allegedly caused a collision on Illinois Highway 15. Plaintiffs Laura Wegrzyn and Walter Wegrzyn filed the lawsuit in the St. Clair County Circuit Court individually and as parents of Shelby Wegrzyn, a disabled adult, against FedEx Corporation, Kabaj Corporation and Dallas B. Cook, citing negligence. According to the lawsuit, Cook was…
A former patient has filed a negligence lawsuit against the Red Bud Regional Hospital, claiming its staff failed to properly diagnose an infection in his spine. Plaintiff Brian Clark filed a lawsuit in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Dr. Rosanne Sutter, Red Bud Physician Group, LLC, and Red Bud Illinois Hospital Company, LLC doing business as Red Bud…
Injured workers self-reporting anxiety and depression increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with numbers jumping “significantly” between 2019 and 2020 and not returning to pre-pandemic rates in 2022 as the pandemic waned, according to an industry trends report released Tuesday by Medrisk Inc. In 2019, 24.4% of injured workers reported they had anxiety, 19.8% reported depression and 14.8…
Less coordination of care was found to be a factor in injured workers who relied on “extended” physical rehabilitation post-injury, according to a study released Wednesday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. According to WCRI, physical medicine services are commonly used in treating workers with lower back pain and other musculoskeletal injuries, and in recent years, there has been an…
A shopper is suing Walmart after she allegedly slipped and injured herself in one of its O’Fallon stores. Plaintiff Junee Larkin filed the lawsuit in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Wal-Mart Inc., doing business as Sam’s Club, citing negligence. According to the lawsuit, on Aug. 17, 2022, Larkin was a patron in the electronics department at a store…
