The New Mexico Supreme Court reversed a lower courts decision on a workers’ compensation death claim this week and in so doing inadvertently demonstrated that an insurance company’s denial of a claim should be based on the most relevant defense. In this particular case, the widow of a police officer had been seeking workers’ compensation…
Doctors Too Busy To Be Concerned With Patient Safety
One thing was clear to me from last week's Prescription Drug Abuse Summit in Orlando. Doctors are a key part of the burgeoning addiction problem, and must be a critical part of any solution. Currently they overprescribe, at alarming rates, medications for purposes for which they were never designed or intended. Opioids, which were generally…
Texting While Flying a Fatal Mistake?
It was revealed yesterday that a pilot of a medical helicopter that crashed in Missouri in 2011 had been actively texting during the flight. The crash killed all 4 people on board, including a patient. Bloomberg News is reporting that the National Transportation Safety Board has documented seven texts sent or received by the pilot…
There is Stupid, and Then There is This….
Here is a helpful hint for all the jovial plotting pranksters out there. If you call 911 to report an armed robbery at the place where you work, don’t yell “April fools!” to the officers responding to the call. That is what seems to have occurred April 1st at a Waffle House in Hampton, VA,…
Is Addiction an Affliction of the Young?
I wrote on Tuesday about the “Memory Wall” installed at the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit. It is a large panel containing many pictures and emotional tributes to dozens of people lost to drug abuse. It is a project provided by the NOPE Task Force. NOPE stands for Narcotics Overdose Prevention & Education. The Memory…
National Rx Drug Abuse Summit: All That Is Missing Is You
It took me a while to put my finger on it. The National Rx Drug Abuse Summit here in Orlando is well attended and highly informative, yet something was missing. Something important. I couldn't quite get it. And then it hit me. That something was you. Your co-workers. Your company. Virtually the entire workers' compensation…
Putting a Face On Drug Abuse Death
A startling fact was revealed this morning at the National Prescription Drug Abuse Summit in Orlando, FL. Last year, 38,000 people died in this country from prescription drug abuse. That is more than died in workplace and auto accidents combined. The discussion here is clinical, and by nature somewhat detached from the devastation caused by…
Fake Penis Definitely Fails the (Drug) Test
About a decade ago we ran a story about a product called the Whizzinator, which is designed to help people cheat drug tests. This product is a fake penis that dispenses clean urine. The process involves mixing dehydrated “clean urine” with water that is stored with the device. The body heat of the person wearing…
Training is Only Useful If It Doesn't Suck
A story that ran in our CompNewsNetwork area earlier this week really demonstrated that training in and of itself is not the only element needed to produce a safe and healthy work environment. The training needs to maintain a certain quality, and cannot itself be based on careless, haphazard standards. It turns out training should…
A Super Secret Workers' Compensation Conference in Dick Cheney's Basement
Today, 45 workers' comp superstars from all over the nation are gathering at a super secret, highly secure location. Sort of a Trilateral Commission for workplace injury, they will analyze, review, and solve all of the issues facing workers' comp. Well, actually, tonight they are just having dinner and drinking, but tomorrow; tomorrow they will…