News

A cleaning company employee claims she was fired in retaliation for receiving workers' compensation after being hospitalized with respiratory issues due to exposure to cleaning chemicals. Brandy Clark filed a complaint Oct. 12 in the St. Clair County Circuit Court against Clements Cleaning Inc., alleging violation of the Illinois Workers' Compensation Act. According to Clark's complaint, she was employed by…

Workers compensation patients who undergo lumbar surgeries have higher percentages of reoperation and readmission compared to those undergoing similar surgeries in group health, the Workers Compensation Research Institute reported in a study released Thursday. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based WCRI researchers examined 30- and 90-day reoperation and readmission rates for injured workers who underwent lumbar spine surgeries in 18 states from October 2015…

A construction company that appealed the Indiana Workers Compensation Board’s award of medical and disability to a worker who fell through the roof not only lost its appeal, but saw the worker’s award increased by 5% by the court. In KNK Group v. Sarver, the Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday affirmed the board’s ruling that the company did not…

The increase in facility costs for hospital emergency room visits has “significantly” outpaced medical inflation, with facility costs growing approximately three times faster than the hospital outpatient producer price index, according to an analysis of workers compensation emergency room costs released Friday by the National Council on Compensation Insurance. The Boca Raton, Florida-based ratings agency said in its report that…

Despite substantial reductions in recent years, opioids continue to be widely dispensed to workers with work-related injuries in several states, according to a study released Thursday by the Workers Compensation Research Institute. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based institute studied factors that are associated with longer-term opioid use, finding that the strongest predictor of such use is opioid prescribing early in a claim.…