Injured workers told a State Capitol news conference today that workers’ compensation insurers unreasonably delayed undisputed medical and disability payments that cost the workers their cars, homes, personal assets, and their dignity. The injured workers and their advocates called upon the Legislature and the governor to reject the insurance companies demand that penalties for unreasonable delays be reduced as part of a legislative compromise.

 CANCER RISKS IN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING FACILITIES. A chipmaking trade group said on Thursday that it would sponsor a far-reaching study on cancer risks in semiconductor manufacturing facilities, after years of calls for such an effort by industry critics. 

 United Farm Workers' President, Arturo Rodriquez, strongly objects to the proposal offered by the Governor of California to reform workers' compensation in that State.

NJ RULE PROPOSALS - DEADLINE TO COMMENT Public Hearing: Tues April 6, 2004 Deadline to Comment: May 14, 2004 Topics: Camera & Audio Coverage; M...

 HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the awarding of eight grants to fund an $81 million, five-year health screening program of New York City firefighters and other workers and volunteers who provided rescue, recovery, and restoration services at the World Trade Center disaster site. The grants will allow the recipients to conduct three, free, standardized clinical examinations for each eligible individual over the next five years.

 FORMER DIRECTOR OF NJ DIVISION OF WORKERS COMPENSATION INDICTED Harry Parkin, formerly one of Mercer County's highest-ranking officials, was in...

 Comparing the outcomes of workplace injuries in three states—California, Washington, and Wisconsin—suggests that older workers are more likely than their younger counterparts to have permanent disabilities as a result of those injuries. This is true even though older workers have fewer workplace accidents.

WHO WILL MANAGE SSA - CMS (The people who enforce Medicare Secondary Payment laws) HHS Secretary Thompson Criticizes Opposition to Nomination of FDA ...

 Injured Workers & Advocates: Regulate Workers’ Comp Insurance, Protect Choice of Doctor, Right to 2nd Opinion. Injured workers and their advocates called for regulation of workers’ compensation insurance rate, protecting injured workers’ rights to choose their own doctors, and the right to a 2nd medial opinion. The injured workers’ advocates gave their proposals for reforming California’s workers’ compensation insurance system, including prohibiting excessive insurance rates, and criticized Gov. Schwarzenegger’s proposal, saying it “would harm thousands of injured workers.” 

 Stress is a well known culprit in disease, but now researchers have shown that stress can intensify the effects of relatively safe chemicals, making them very harmful to the brain and liver in animals and likely in humans, as well. 

Being concerned with continuous wide used of asbestos in the world, the EU and ILO convened the European Asbestos Conference in September 2003 in Dresden, Germany. Gerd Albracht, chairman of the Conference, underlined that "mmillions of workers and consumers have been exposed to asbestos dust. Twenty-thousand asbestos related lung cancers and 10,000 mesotheliomas occur annually across the population of Western Europe, Scandinavia, North America, Japan and Australia alone, but developing countries have much higher risks of exposure. In such countries, asbestos is thus a time bomb that looks set to lead to an explosive increase in asbestos related diseases and deaths in the next 20-30 years." 

Government Statistics on deaths due to Asbestos-related disease have been released and appear in a recently released report published by the Environmental Working Group of Washington DC. The report reveals that: Camden, Somerset, Middlesex and Bergen have the highest rates in the State of NJ. At Least 2,775 People Have Been Killed by Asbestos in New Jersey Since 1979

 A significant challenge to the rights of injured workers in third party asbestos litigation was introduced in Congress in 1999 by U.S. Senator Orrin G. Hatch (R-UT) in what he termed the "Fairness in Asbestos Litigation Act of 1998", S.2546.

Jury Awards $5M in Anti-Smoking Suit

 This Alert describes health effects that may occur because of workplace exposure to some flavorings or their ingredients, gives examples of workplace settings in which illness has occurred, and recommends steps that companies and workers should take to prevent hazardous exposures.