From Bob's Cluttered Desk

There are not many in our industry who speak with true compassion for the uninsured employer. Los Angeles attorney Zachary Sacks is the exception. While he doesn’t give much credence to those who intentionally and flagrantly violate the law, he sounds somewhat sympathetic to those, who through their own ignorance about workers’ compensation and their…

Editors Note: This missive ran last year to encourage involvement in the Best Blogs Contest. Because it worked so well then, and because Bob is essentially a lazy good-for-nothing sloth, it runs again this year. It has been updated to reflect current statistics. Greetings, fellow bloggers. I do not know if you are aware of…

The workers’ comp world was saddened last week when we heard of the passing of Dwight Johnson. Dwight had become a bit of celebrity within our industry, and was widely respected as an inspirational force defining positive outcomes despite physical impairments. Dwight is best known to most for the brightly colored shoes he created; shoes…

Yesterday Peter Rousmaniere published a rather scathing opinion piece on this site accusing the insurance industry in general of intentionally misleading the federal government and others when it comes to mental injury claims. It was his position that workers’ compensation insurers are shirking their responsibilities in the area of mental health, and of being intentionally…

There is a great deal of discussion going on today about the problems of workers’ compensation. Many bloggers and columnists, including myself, devote a significant percentage of our energy to opining and analyzing what is wrong with the industry. It is a primary topic of conferences, and Lord knows the media has spent a decent…

As fond as I am of learning new things and seeing scientific frontiers broken, I am convinced that in certain cases, there are some things that science should just leave alone. There is, after all, some stuff we just do not need to know. I was reminded of this recently when I came across an…

The book, “Living Abled & Healthy, Your Guide to Injury and Illness Recovery”, written by Dr. Christopher Brigham, is, simply put, a work that should find its way into the hands of every newly injured worker. Published in 2015, it is an effort to “lay the cards on the table”, and help guide the injured…

We’ve been preparing this week to launch the 2nd Annual Best Blogs Contest, designed to find the most informative and entertaining blogs in the workers’ compensation industry. The judges have (almost all) been confirmed, the Best Blogs logo has been given an updated look, and we are preparing our systems to receive nominations. You will…

Peter Rousmaniere wrote an excellent piece that appeared yesterday on this site, addressing the challenge of digitizing our industry. Specifically, he informed us that, while the “American economy is 27 percent digitized”, only 10 percent of the property casualty insurance industry has reached that point. With estimates, according to Rousmaniere, that up to 43 percent…

I must be honest with you. I did not write most of this “feces as medicine” post. Instead, it was penned by a friend and fellow blogger, who ultimately came to realize that he, due to his high station, relative sobriety and stellar reputation in life, could not give justice to the topic at hand.…