Recent Decisions Reach Opposite Conclusions in Dog-Tripping Incidents According to a recent report published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as many as 22 percent of the American labor force...
Home-Based Workers: Beware of Four-Legged “Best Friends” Home-Based Workers: Beware of Four-Legged “Best Friends”Opinion Raises as Many Questions as It Answers Last Thursday (March 7), the Supreme Court of New Hampshire handed down a decision that reversed, in pertinent part, a state Appeals...
NH High Court Issues Ruling on Medical Marijuana for Injured Worker—Sort of NH High Court Issues Ruling on Medical Marijuana for Injured Worker—Sort ofIn an ancient decision (one year older than me), Day v. Day, 216 S.C. 334, 58 S.E.2d 83 (1950), the Supreme Court of South Carolina, reflecting the general moral mindset...
South Carolina: In Dependency Case, Commission May Not Presume “Fornication” Occurred South Carolina: In Dependency Case, Commission May Not Presume “Fornication” OccurredIn the Foreword of our forthcoming Workers’ Compensation Emerging Issues Analysis, 6th Edition [LexisNexis], due out in a few weeks, I note that in contrast to 2017, this year has...
2018’s Top 10 Workers’ Compensation Cases 2018’s Top 10 Workers’ Compensation CasesJettisoning the Bath Water—Does the Baby Remain? As someone who has, for the past 32 years, earned the bulk of his living reading—I’ll admit, often only skimming—some 2,500 appellate decisions...
Recent Kansas AMA Guides Decision: Would the Court Prefer a Fault-Based System? Recent Kansas AMA Guides Decision: Would the Court Prefer a Fault-Based System?There are some who point out that LeBron is getting ready to pay the highest taxes in his life (with a $154 million contract, he can afford it), that he...
The Real Reason LeBron is Moving to the Lakers! The Real Reason LeBron is Moving to the Lakers!What Does Florida Have Against Teachers and Bartenders? As I posted Monday [click here to view that post], a bill to extend relatively broad PTSD coverage to Florida’s first responders...
Commentary: How Equitable is Florida’s New PTSD Coverage? Commentary: How Equitable is Florida’s New PTSD Coverage?Earlier this month, the Florida Senate and House both unanimously passed Senate Bill 376, so as generally to allow workers’ compensation benefits for first responders who suffer PTSD as a...
Florida Legislature Approves PTSD Coverage for First Responders Florida Legislature Approves PTSD Coverage for First RespondersRecent Air Ambulance Decisions Hint that McCarran-Ferguson Insurance Barrier to Federal Involvement in Workers’ Comp May Be Decaying Two recent court decisions, one from Texas [PHI Air Med., LLC v....
Is the Wall Strong Enough? Is the Wall Strong Enough?Employer-Controlled Medical Care Drives Claimants to Attorneys, Erasing Savings in Medical Costs A common mantra from the employer-carrier side of the workers’ compensation world goes something like this, “If you...
New Study Says Employer-Directed Choice of MD May Actually Increase Overall Claim Costs New Study Says Employer-Directed Choice of MD May Actually Increase Overall Claim CostsVirginia Employer Need Not Provide Specialized “Running Blade” Prosthesis While all but a few American jurisdictions require employers to provide medical benefits that are essentially unlimited in terms of duration...
Medical Benefits Must be “Reasonable and Necessary”—Not Just Beneficial Medical Benefits Must be “Reasonable and Necessary”—Not Just BeneficialThe phrase is used quite often, even by attorneys: “He [or she] was hurt ‘on-the-job.’” The typical implication is that a worker who sustains an “on-the-job” injury deserves workers’ compensation...
Virginia Case Shows “On-the-Job” Injuries May Not be Compensable Virginia Case Shows “On-the-Job” Injuries May Not be Compensable