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Injured miners and construction workers are in the occupations most likely to receive an opioid prescription, the study shows. Injured workers living in “rural” or “very rural” areas were up to 25% more likely than urban injured workers to receive opioid painkillers. Injured workers in rural areas are more likely to receive prescriptions for opioids, a new study shows. The…

The National Council of Insurance Legislators is in the early planning stages of possibly creating a model law on workers compensation drug formularies, the organization’s spokesman confirmed on Friday. Details on the proposed NCOIL Workers’ Compensation Drug Formulary Model Act are included in NCOIL’s spring meeting agenda, provided to Business Insurance. The meeting is set for March 14-17 in Nashville…

A large number of employers not regulated by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s electronic record-keeping rule are voluntarily submitting data to the agency, but they should refrain from doing so in the future because that information could be used against them in OSHA enforcement actions, according to attorneys representing employers. The electronic record-keeping regulation, formally known as the…

A bill introduced Thursday in the Illinois Senate would amend the state’s current Workers Compensation Act to begin compensation almost immediately for seriously injured volunteer, paid-on-call or part-time firefighters, emergency medical technicians or paramedics. S.B. 1219, introduced by Illinois state Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Moline, would amend the current law to allow for coverage of total temporary incapacity to commence the…

An insurer is suing a man who allegedly resisted arrest in Northlake, as the insurer seeks to collect reimbursement of workers' compensation benefits paid to an officer who was injured in the incident. The Illinois Public Risk Fund, through the Northlake Police Department, filed a complaint on Feb. 1 in Cook County Circuit Court against John A. Cottone, alleging the…