When it comes to workplace injury claims filed, “overall it’s gotten better,” but preventable illnesses and injuries are still costing employers billions of dollars, and employees their lives. So said Lisa Weis, compliance assistance specialist with the Cleveland office of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA. Weis addressed 230 members of the Mahoning Valley Safety Council at its…
The Illinois Senate has approved restrictions on insurance companies writing workers’ compensation policies. The plan that passed 34-21 on April 17 is identical to one Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed last year. The Republican has complained for years that workers’ compensation costs prevent economic growth. Democrats point out they restricted payouts and rules on worker injuries in 2011 but insurance companies…
Nearly two-thirds of the injuries and illnesses that occurred among Illinois miners from 2001 to 2013 were not reported to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, a recent study shows. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago cross-referenced MSHA Part 50 reports of injuries and illnesses to corresponding cases with the state’s Workers’ Compensation Commission. The WCC database showed…
An arbitrator has ordered the village of Niles to pay over $30,000 to settle a worker’s compensation claim for a police officer whose patrol car was rear-ended in 2016. Niles police Officer Rodney Whiteman sustained injuries when his squad car was struck, said Daniel Egan, an attorney with the Chicago-based law firm Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie and Lowry, which represented the…
With issues like the opioid crisis and inflating drug costs at the forefront of discussion in workers’ compensation, several states, including Indiana and Pennsylvania, are currently considering legislation to establish workers’ compensation drug formularies. Some debate has arisen as to whether these drug formularies are effective and appropriate in the care of injured workers. To address these questions, let’s take…
Gov. Eric Holcomb this week signed two bills into law: one that creates a workers' compensation drug formulary aimed at curtailing the opioid crisis, and another that penalizes employers for late payments of benefits. SB 290, which passed the Indiana General Assembly March 7, requires employers to pay benefits within 30 days of being awarded and imposes fines when benefits are not paid…
Walgreens Co. has agreed to pay $5.5 million after allegedly overcharging for prescription drugs covered by Massachusetts’ workers compensation insurance system. The settlement, filed in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston on Thursday, resolves allegations that between 2008 and 2017, Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens violated state consumer protection laws by overcharging for worker injury-related prescriptions under the Massachusetts workers comp system at…
An Escondido corporation is alleged to have misrepresented facts to two insurance companies. Zurich American Insurance Co. and Zurich American Insurance Co. of Illinois filed a complaint on March 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California against Solvis Staffing Services Inc. and Does 1 through 50 citing rescission, unjust enrichment and other counts. According to…
A man claims two East Alton attorneys with the Galanti Law Office failed to provide witness testimonies during his worker’s compensation hearing, resulting in a ruling in favor of his employer. Edward Holmes filed a complaint on March 14 in the Madison County Circuit Court against Giambattista Patti and David Galanti, alleging they failed to represent him as a reasonable…
An installer of “slide-out” box units on recreational vehicles who was partially paralyzed after one of the units fell from an RV and onto his back cannot sue under the Indiana Product Liability Act, the Indiana Court of Appeals held Tuesday. The appellate court affirmed an Elkhart Superior Court ruling in Matthew Davis v. Lippert Components Manufacturing, Inc., 20A03-1710-CT-2435. The…
