Our modern electronic world has many benefits and conveniences, but the free flow of information also creates privacy concerns. In the realm of health care, privacy protections are needed to preserve patients’ dignity and prevent harms such as discrimination. But such protections can also have unintended consequences for health care, and the health research that is vital for making medical advances. More than 10 years ago Congress called for a set of federal standards, now known as the HIPAA Privacy Rule, to protect the privacy of personally identifiable health information while still allowing the flow of information needed to promote high-quality health care.

As the greatest economic bailout goes forward, the Federal and State governments are exploring new areas to raise revenue, including from workers’ compensation benefits. The multi-billion dollar national workers’ compensation system, insured by recently nationalized unstable insurance carriers, maybe be a source to fund the rapidly increasing national debt

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 U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with Delta Enterprise Corp., of New York, New York., announced the recall to replace missing safety pegs involving 985,000 drop side cribs. Failure to use or install safety pegs can cause an entrapment and suffocation risk to infants and toddlers.
 

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.

A proposal has been introduced in the NJ Assembly formalizing an alternate dispute resolution (ADR) program for workers’ compensation. The proposal would allow the establishment of such a program through collective bargaining units and insurance carriers and group self-insurance plans.

In a landmark decision of immense national significance, the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a RICO claim brought by injured workers against their employer, insurance carrier and employer medical expert could proceed. Several injured workers brought the Federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) against their employer, Crawford & Company and [cut-off treatment doctor] Dr. Saul Margules.

The Canadian delegation to the Rotterdam Convention was able to lobby effectively to prohibit a ban on asbestos for another two years. The Canadian mines will continue to churn out the killer fiber and ship it to unsuspecting countries as a result of an effective major lobbying effort of the Canadians to sway the votes of India, Pakistan, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Implementation of the mandatory insurance company reporting process mandated pursuant to Section 111 of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (See 42 U.S.C. 1395y(b)(7)&(b)(8) have now been unveiling by CMS.

 At a recent hearing of the US Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Senator Max Baucus presented a report revealing that the Federal government failed to take the appropriate action to declare Libby, Montana a public health emergency in 2002. The disregard of the federal government led to a lack of funding and manpower in cleaning up the asbestos contamination according to the Senator.

The efforts of the insurance industry to revive the previously fatally ill CMS reform legislation can be declared over and the life support disconnected following the Congressional actions to bailout Wall Street. The bill had been given a bounce, like a dead cat thrown against the ground, by the insurance industry, and some misinformed stakeholders, but economics and public opinion will not support the effort any longer.

Delay has always been a problem when injured workers need medical treatment.  Traditionally, insurance companies, especially in hard economic times, have sought to hold onto their money and not distribute benefits.