Over 20,000 people die from prescription drug overdoses in this country every year. That is one every 20 minutes or so. Not all of them are workers' comp related, but a significant number are. As an industry we have blood on our hands, and it isn't going away anytime soon. Several weeks ago, the Executive…
Protecting New Mexico's Drunk Garbage Truck Drivers
New Mexico may indeed be the Land of Enchantment, but it is certainly not the land of clear and concise legislative language. An attempt to clarify the law, to give judges more flexibility to deny all or most benefits to intoxicated workers who are injured on the job, was blocked last week by a House…
Physician Dispensing and Arguing with Idiots
I got into one of my more animated debates yesterday with a fellow on LinkedIn over the issue of physician dispensing. This particular person appears to be a PR rep hired by a dispensing physician in an attempt to scrub the indelible stain on the soul that prescribing for fun and profit undoubtedly brings. As…
Is Texas Legalizing "Workers Comp" Again?
Last November I wrote an article about a website, www.texasworkerscomplaw.com, which had been shut down by a legal threat from the Texas Department of Insurance. The state was citing existing law that it contended prevents anyone from using the term “Texas” and “Workers’ Comp” or “Workers’ Compensation” in connection with a website or blog, and…
Bend Over, Florida – Your Legislature Debates Physician Dispensing
If only we could get a kiss when our legislature is through with us. Last year the state of Florida tried to get a handle on the soaring cost of physician dispensed medications, only to have the effort crash and burn in an embarrassingly spectacular fashion; a failure that was specifically driven by a massive…
Vertigo, Valentine’s Day and a Good Ménage à Trois
I was not prepared for Valentine's Day this year. I spent the first part of this week laid out in bed, experiencing the delightful sensations of “Positional Vestibular Vertigo” for the very first time in my life. It came on suddenly, and Monday I was able to do nothing but clutch a bucket and incompetently…
Attending the Physician Dispensing Summit
I am very much looking forward to attending an upcoming “Physician Dispensing Summit”, to be held at a secure, undisclosed location on February 25th and 26th. Ok, it is actually being held just prior to the WCRI conference in Boston, but I like the mystery that my introduction affords. Now, contrary to what the title…
When You Have a Fire and Nobody Comes – Can Safety Training be Improperly Focused?
My wife and I were visiting someone at a nursing home in New Port Richey, FL a couple weeks ago. An incident occurred during our visit that made me wonder if safety training is all it is really cracked up to be. Yet at the same time, it made me very aware of how critical…
Roasting the Founder of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
It is time once again for a shameless plug on behalf of a charitable cause that is near and dear to my heart. I had lunch a few weeks ago with Dr. Larry R. Thompson. Dr. Thompson was the first CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, and is largely…
This is Your IAIABC. This is Your IAIABC on Drugs. Or Not.
[Insert Empty Policy Here] In an article published last week in Risk & Insurance, Mark Walls commended the regulators at the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions (IAIABC) for their bold leadership in the development of model opioid rules that they could recommend to their members, helping to curb the burgeoning prescription drug…