Current Newsletters
IMMUNITY FROM COVID-19 VACCINATION; IMMUNITY AFTER RECOVERING FROM COVID-19?
On October 22, 2021, a judge in Kern County determined that the power of the State is such that it can mandate vaccinations for certain employees. The judge stated that the Court was not in a position to dictate which and when such steps should be addressed by the State to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. This finding is similar to litigation in other states enforcing the vaccination mandate through either executive order or legislation to...
PTSD PRESUMPTION; 90-DAY RULE SHOULD BE REDUCED TO 30 DAYS & REMOVE THE EXPIRATION DATE OF 1/1/2025
Timelines are established for employers to determine whether a worker’s injury or medical condition is work-related. These timelines are set forth pursuant to labor Code §5402, which provides that once an employer has knowledge of an injury or medical condition which is claimed to be job-related, the employer has 90 days to do studies and investigations to either validate or take issue with the injured worker’s claim. After 90 days from...
MUTUAL EQUALITY
The California Workers’ Compensation system is designed to provide benefits to injured workers in the form of: Medical care to cure or relieve the effects of a work-related injury. Payments in the form of temporary disability benefits. (And for safety workers: Compensation for wage loss in the form of payments pursuant to Labor Code §4850 or §4800.5.) Compensation for irreversible residual harm (i.e., Permanent...
CATASTROPHIC EVENTS & ARTIFICIAL LIMITS
In certain catastrophic accidents, artificial compensation limits have been placed on the driver, family members and/or passengers in the vehicle which has been struck. These artificial limits are $15,000.00 per driver or passenger for injury or death to one or more persons, with a total limit of $30,000.00 for all individuals in the vehicle. While these limits provide some compensation, they do not protect injured drivers, their...
THE LATEST COVID THREAT: COMORBIDITY
The continuation of COVID has resulted in a greater understanding of the medical phraseology which defines developments which result from the impact of COVID-19 on prior existing medical problems, as well as problems which develop subsequent to the finding of COVID-19. Comorbidity, defined as “the simultaneous presence of two chronic diseases or conditions in a patient” comes into play when COVID impacts either an underlying medical...
COVID/LONG HAULERS/LONG COVID
In two of my previous Law1199.com Newsletters — 2020 Issues 8 and 14 — I discussed the long-term impact of COVID and the fact that conditions associated with the virus may continue even after a change in symptomatology to the point where individuals who have been infected believe they are once again functioning at a higher level. On March 23, 2021, New York State Senator Brad Hoylman proposed legislation (effective only in the state of...
FIVE YEARS TO OBTAIN MORE JUSTICE; NO TIME LIMIT ON MEDICAL CARE
Two factors occurring with job-related injuries are the level of impairment and the need for medical care. The level of impairment is determined by medical opinions and comparing the objective findings (i.e., test results) with the subjective complaints of the patient using a schedule which has been created to produce this measurement. Once the level of impairment has been determined, a worker has five years from the date of...
PROPOSED LEGISLATION WILL HELP TO CORRECT SOME OF THE WRONGS REGARDING ACCESS TO MEDICAL CARE
New legislation — AB 1465 — provides some important corrections to SB 899 and its harm¬ful limitations designed to restrict workers’ access to medical care. AB 1465 expands access to more doctors outside the employer-controlled medical groups, and establishes the California Medical Provider Network (CMPN), allowing access to doctors outside the employer-controlled MPN. It also removes employers’ ability to economically profile their selected...
HAVING A COVID-19 PREVENTION PROGRAM IS NOT AN OPTION; IT IS A NECESSITY: LONG COVID IS HERE
Two doctors from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland – Dr. Robert Bollinger and Dr. Stuart Ray – have posted their medical opinions regarding a new strain of the coronavirus and its potential impact. They state that viruses do mutate over time, and there currently have been some mutations of COVID-19 which are different from what was first found in China. One new strain of COVID was first discovered in southern England in September...
COVID-19: WILL IT EVER BECOME PERMANENT AND STATIONARY? WILL IT CAUSE HARM TO OTHER BODY SYSTEMS?
In Workers’ Compensation, the point at which a determination is made as to whether an injured worker has sustained any permanent impairment is when the worker’s condition has become permanent and stationary (P&S), meaning he/she has reached maximum medical improvement and his/her condition has stabilized to the point where further treatment is unlikely to change that condition significantly within the next year. A P&S...
