It’s certainly not impossible to think that California airline workers or healthcare workers could have frontline exposure to carriers of the Ebola virus. While this is principally a public health issue, it could morph into a significant workers’ comp issue. Thankfully the USA has only seen a handful of Ebola infections, and several of those infected have
The California Division of Workers’ Compensation has yet to unveil opioid guidelines, though a draft was circulated for public comment in April 2014. The DWC isn’t the only California agency working on the topic. The Medical Board of California has posted a September 2014 draft titled “Guidelines for Prescribing Controlled Substances for Chronic Pain”. The
Which is more expensive, employer fraud or worker fraud? That’s a question analyzed in an interesting piece written this week by Greg Jones, ace reporter for workcompcentral.com. Jones’ piece is titled “Employer Fraud More Expensive, Claimants More Likely To Be Jailed”. Jones analyzes California Department of Insurance data during the first half of 2013. In
At a recent workers’ comp conference in Southern California, WCAB Commissioner Kathy Zalewski noted that the WCAB commissioners had been doing a bit of “crocodile wrestling” over Dubon. I’ve seen crocodile wrestling in Thailand, and it often features a trainer with a stick, prodding a crocodile that looks either well-fed or drugged into docile status. The
Governor Brown has vetoed 3 workers comp bills: AB 2616 (Skinner) AB 2378 (Perea) AB 2052 (Gonzalez) With these vetoes, Brown has asserted himself as a check on legislative activity relating to workers’ comp. As the Governor sails to a likely landslide re-election victory, it is clear that Brown envisions his role as a guardian against excesses