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Injured workers self-reporting anxiety and depression increased since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with numbers jumping “significantly” between 2019 and 2020 and not returning to pre-pandemic rates in 2022 as the pandemic waned, according to an industry trends report released Tuesday by Medrisk Inc. In 2019, 24.4% of injured workers reported they had anxiety, 19.8% reported depression and 14.8…

Less coordination of care was found to be a factor in injured workers who relied on “extended” physical rehabilitation post-injury, according to a study released Wednesday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. According to WCRI, physical medicine services are commonly used in treating workers with lower back pain and other musculoskeletal injuries, and in recent years, there has been an…

Injured workers with low back pain whose injuries are covered by workers compensation insurers and employers reported the lowest improvements in function following physical therapy than patients covered by all other payment systems, according to study released Tuesday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The data used in the study was collected at admission and discharge from low back pain…

A bill that would limit awards for subsequent workplace injuries to the “same part of the spine” was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly on Tuesday. H.B. 2345 would amend the Workers’ Compensation Act, stating that “for purposes of computing compensation for an employee who had a prior compensated injury to the spine, the prior compensation shall be deducted from…

An Illinois grain cooperatives’ failure to make sure they followed required safety procedures contributed to how a 27-year-old worker suffered a partial amputation of his right leg when a paddle conveyor was left running when he and two other employees entered a soybean bin for cleaning. Investigators with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration responded to…