Reading Room

Legislation was recently introduced in Congress to re-establish a National Commission on State Workers’ Compensation Laws [Commission]. This attempt to recreate the almost 4 decades ago effort to evaluate uniformity of benefits, was introduced by a sole legislator, Representative Joe Baca [CA-43] and lacks any co-sponsorship or a duplicate effort in the US Senate.

State workers’ compensation systems are beginning to suffer from the impact of the national economic downturn. Economically induced factors are compounding the underlying issues that previously generated a growing level of critical stagnation. The combination of this dynamic now threatens the very core of the workers' compensation system and endangers its extinction.

A licensed practical nurse who suffered from preexisting pulmonary disability was permitted to recover benefits against her employer when a co-employee sprayed perfume at work. The NJ Appellate Division ruled that a licensed practical nurse was allowed to seek benefits when exposed to an employee's perfume even though the injured worker came to the employment with severe pre-existing obstructive lung disease.

A complaint filed by an injured worker who sought Federal Court review of a NJ Workers’ Compensation Judge for alleged gross misconduct was dismissed. The Court held that it lacked the authority to review the matter.
 

 The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of "Bagi Shumanit" Super Cold Grease Removers. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

The US Supreme Court has decided to review a decision interpreting a 1986 Bankruptcy confirmation plan order. The order formed the basis of a settlement by Travelers Insurance Company to resolve claims against it for conspiracy in concealing information about the dangers of asbestos.
 

Asbestos exposure continues to have high rates of death in the US.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has reported that 1-Bromopropane (1-BP) (n-propyl bromide),  a solvent increasingly used as a substitute for ozone-depleting chloro-fluorocarbons and similar regulated compounds, has been reported to cause neurological illness. 1-BP is used in vapor and immersion degreasing operations and other manufacturing processes, and as a solvent in industries using aerosol-applied adhesives.

The issues facing the present economic downturn are not necessarily the same that existed during the great depression and therefore the outcome may not be the same.

Now that Barach Obama is a going to be at the helm of the US, greater attention is being focused on the need for a national health care system incorporating workers’ compensation medical coverage. With private insurance companies failing, unemployment increasing, the cost of medical care soaring, more attention has now been placed on the elimination of medical care as a workers’ compensation benefit paid by Industry.