From Bob's Cluttered Desk

I cannot believe my good luck. It was the veritable needle in the haystack, yet there it was. I've said several times that I am the Jerry Springer of workers' comp. While others, more burdened with intellectual prowess and stoic dignity than I possess, write lengthy expositions concerning highly technical legal and medical topics, I…

It seems that OSHA should consider, if they ever reopen that is, the regulation of the unseemly underworld of crime. The people who toil there to make a living are routinely exposed to dangers not generally present for those who work on the right side of the law. One of the most recent examples of…

Never mind what you think of the Affordable Care Act. Never mind what your perceptions are of its impact, or how it will affect health care in this nation. This is now simply a story of execution – or botched execution as it were – of a major government effort. It is a story of…

Unlike many things I discuss, this story will be a riveting tale. I promise. Either that or it is a tale about riveting. I am not sure which. Elinor Otto works at the Boeing plant in Long Beach, CA, where she spends her day installing rivets into C-17 Cargo planes. A long time worker at…

This discussion is not about setting up all the needed parameters to deny disability for others. It is about helping people deny their own disability; about assisting an individual who has suffered a terrible accident in assembling the necessary ingredients in order to “deny the disability” their own impairment would’ve otherwise provided. The keynote speaker…

I wish I had thought of the two concepts reflected in the title of this article. Alas, I did not. I did, however, once again take two dynamite ideas, combine them into one cohesive concept, thereby saving the universe while still managing to create an enticing, killer headline in the process. I swear, sometimes it’s…

It really is at times a very small world. I am attending two conferences this week, the IAIABC 99th Annual Conference in San Diego, and the California Workers’ Comp and Risk Conference in Dana Point. Fortunately they are only an hour or so from each other in Southern California, so I could reach both of…

While this story does not involve an impairment such as we often are familiar with in workers’ comp, it does involve a severe, debilitating illness and an attitude worthy of discussion.  Friday night my wife and I were enjoying dinner and drinks with friends in a local restaurant. Near the end of our meal, we…

Last week the Florida First District Court of Appeal reversed an earlier significant decision; and in so doing highlighted the inherent conflicts of running a medical benefits system within the confines of a legal, statutorily driven entity. Many will recall that last February the court struck down as unconstitutional a key component of Florida’s workers'…

I can’t write about workers’ comp this week. I’m on vacation, and therefore must avoid work at all costs. My wife has indicated that being caught working on vacation could be injurious to my health, and since as noted I am on said vacation, I would not have any indemnity or medical protection. My wife…