A Day In The Life Of Ted the Tea-Partier

Today’s post comes from guest author Jay Causey, from Causey Law Firm.

Ted gets up at 6 A.M. and fills his coffeepot with water to prepare his morning coffee. The water is clean and good because some tree-hugging liberal fought for government-enforced minimum water-quality standards.

With his first swallow of coffee, he takes his daily medication. His medications are safe to take because some stupid commie liberal fought to have the government insure their safety and that they work as advertised. All but $10 of his medications are paid for by his employer’s medical plan because some liberal union workers fought their employers for paid medical insurance – now Ted gets it too.

He prepares his morning breakfast, bacon and eggs. Ted’s bacon is safe to eat because some girly-man liberal fought for laws to regulate the meat-packing industry.

In the morning shower, Ted reaches for his shampoo. His bottle is properly labeled with each ingredient and its amount in the total contents because some crybaby liberal fought for his right to know what he was putting on his body and how much it contained.

Ted dresses, walks outside and takes a deep breath. The air he breathes is far less polluted than decades ago because some wacko liberal environmentalist fought for laws to stop industries from polluting our air.

Ted begins his workday. He has a good job with decent pay, medical benefits, retirement, paid holidays and vacation because some lazy liberal union members fought and died for these working standards. Ted’s employer pays these standards because Ted’s employer doesn’t want his employees to call the union. If Ted is hurt on the job or is laid off, he’ll get workers’ compensation or unemployment because some stupid liberal didn’t think he should lose his home because of his temporary misfortune.

It’s noontime, and Ted needs to make a bank deposit so he can pay some bills. Ted’s deposit is federally insured by the FSLIC because some godless liberal wanted to protect Ted’s money from unscrupulous bankers who ruined the banking system before the Great Depression and nearly collapsed the banking system again in 2008, saved only by a tax-payer bailout.

Ted is home from work, and drives to visit his father this evening at his farm home in the country. His car is among the safest in the world because some America-hating liberal fought to have the government enact car safety standards.

He arrives at his boyhood home. His was the third generation to live in the house financed by Farmers’ Home Administration because bankers didn’t want to make rural loans. The house didn’t have electricity until some big-government liberal stuck his nose where it didn’t belong and demanded rural electrification.

He is happy to see his father, who is now retired. His father lives on Social Security and a union pension because some wine-drinking, cheese-eating liberal made sure he could take care of himself so Ted wouldn’t have to. Ted gets back in his car for the ride home, and turns on a radio talk show. The radio host keeps saying that liberals are bad and hate their country. He doesn’t mention that his radical, anti-government Republicans have, over many decades, fought against each and every one of these protections and benefits Ted enjoys throughout his day.

Ted agrees: “We don’t need those big-government liberals ruining our lives! They’re taking away our freedoms! After all, I’m a self-made man who believes everyone should take care of themselves, just like I have.”

Photo credit: outtacontext / Foter.com / CC BY-NC-ND

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As Robot-Assisted Surgery Expands, Are Patients And Providers Getting Enough Information?

Today’s post was shared by Gelman on Workplace Injuries and comes from www.kaiserhealthnews.org

The use of robotic surgical systems is expanding rapidly, but hospitals, patients and regulators may not be getting enough information to determine whether the high tech approach is worth its cost.

Problems resulting from surgery using robotic equipment—including deaths—have been reported late, inaccurately or not at all to the Food and Drug Administration, according to one study.

The study, published in the Journal for Healthcare Quality earlier this year, focused on incidents involving Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci Robotic Surgical System over nearly 12 years, scrubbing through several data bases to find troubled outcomes. Researchers found 245 incidents reported to the FDA, including 71 deaths and 174 nonfatal injuries. But they also found eight cases in which reporting fell short, including five cases in which no FDA report was filed at all.

The FDA assesses and approves products based on reported device-related complications. If a medical device malfunctions, hospitals are required to report the incident to the manufacturer, which then reports it to the agency. The FDA, in turn, creates a report for its Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience database.

The use of surgical robots has grown rapidly since it was first approved for laparoscopic surgery (a type of surgery that uses smaller incisions than in traditional surgery) by the FDA in 2000. Between 2007 and 2011 the number of da Vinci systems installed increased by 75 percent in the United…

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Legally Speaking – Volunteer Firefighters and Ambulance Workers

Catherine M. Stanton

Hello friends! Today’s editorial is going to discuss Volunteer Firefighters and Ambulance Workers and their rights under New York State Workers’ Compensation Law.

While paid New York City firefighters are covered by special contract, and not covered under New York State Workers’ Compensation Law, all New York State active volunteer firefighters in a county, city, town, village or fire district are entitled to benefits under the law if they are injured in the line of duty. Most New York State active volunteer ambulance workers are entitled to benefits as well.

To be entitled to benefits, a firefighter must be engaged in activities pursuant to orders or authorization that include, but are not limited to, participation in fire drills, parades and funerals; travel to and from fire calls or authorized activities; firehouse duties; property inspections; and maintenance and repair of equipment.

Volunteer ambulance workers must be engaged in duties at the ambulance facility or elsewhere, including but not limited to, public exhibitions and drills; attendance at training school; travel to and from calls directly related to the prevention of accidents or other disasters; delivery of emergency health care; instruction in ambulance duties; or maintaining equipment. The benefits depend on the seriousness of the injury and the length of disability.

A determination of the benefits will be made…

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What’s in a Back Injury?

Pain radiating down the leg to the small toe in the general pattern of the S1 dermatome suggests that a herniated disk may be pinching the S1 nerve root in the spine.

Today’s post comes from guest author Brody Ockander, from Rehm, Bennett & Moore.

I hurt my back, and my doctor said it’s my “disc.” What is going on?

Obviously, you’ll want to speak to your doctor about the specifics of your injury, but below is a simple primer on the basic information of an injured, slipped, bulging, herniated disc.

Discs are in between your vertebrae in your spine. They are there as shock absorbers between the bone and also help provide the spine with mobility.

When you have an injury to your disc, you may have what’s called a disc herniation or a disc bulge. If you have a disc herniation, the gel-type substance in the disc has extended beyond where the disc normally contains the gel substance. In the case of a herniation, you can have an extruding disc (more prominent) or a protruding disc (less prominent). The herniation becomes a problem when it interferes or “impinges” or “entraps” the nerves in your spinal column.

A bulging disc is when the gel-type substance is outside the normal disc space, but the outer “shell” of the disc remains intact for the most part. Usually, a bulging disc is less severe than a herniated disc, and bulging discs are sometimes referred to as “protruding discs” as well.

Because the nerves in your spine control your arms and legs, often, your doctor can determine which disc is causing you problems simply by what part of your arm or leg tingles, goes numb, or hurts, along with the location of the pain in your back. For example, if you had a back injury and it now hurts on the outside of your thigh, across the front of your knee, and into your big toe, you likely have an issue with your L4-L5 disc (see the chart as an illustration).

Naturally, a doctor will use your symptoms in conjunction with other diagnostic tests to determine the location of the problem more precisely and will treat your symptoms accordingly. In addition, your doctor will be better able to explain the specifics of your injury more thoroughly and precisely. However, the purpose of this blog is to simply give you an overview of what it means when the doctor says you have a disc “herniation” or “bulge.” This disclaimer applies to the information supplied in today’s blog post.

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Legally Speaking – Afraid To File A Claim?

As a 25-year attorney in the field of Workers’ Compensation, I have represented thousands of injured workers and heard all kinds of stories — many involving workers who didn’t file a Workers’ Comp claim for one reason or another. Some of the most frequent reasons I’ve heard from workers who get injured on the job and don’t file a claim include fear of getting fired, or intimidation by a system that seems cumbersome and hard to navigate.

First of all, it is against the law for an employer to fire you in retaliation for filing a Workers’ Compensation claim. You should know that Workers’ Compensation is a no fault system. In exchange for timely payment of medical and indemnity benefits, workers gave up the right to sue their employer. These laws went into effect in the early 20^th Century as a result of social reform and tragedy. While every state in the nation has some form of Workers’ Compensation laws, they all vary in scope and date of inception. In New York, the pivotal event that culminated in the passage of Workers’ Compensation legislation occurred in 1911 after the horror of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, where 146 individuals perished — some burned to death while others leapt to their deaths when they tried to escape the fire and found the emergency exits locked. This was a preventable tragedy caused by unsafe work conditions and was a catalyst for…

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World Trade Center Registry Reopened and New Protections Accorded to Workers

On November 13, 2013, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed significant protections for World Trade Center workers into the Workers’ Compensation Law under Article 8-A. The legislation extends and enhances workers’ compensation eligibility and benefits for World Trade Center workers. Most notably, the legislation reopens the World Trade Center Registry; extends the deadline period for filing Form WTC-12, Registration of Participation in World Trade Center Rescue, Recovery and/or Clean-up Operations, with a deadline to September 11, 2014; reopens previously time-barred World Trade Center claims and considers them timely; and adds qualifying conditions to the law.

Reopening of Registry and Extension of Filing Period for Form WTC-12

The World Trade Center Registry, which preserves workers’ compensation rights for those who performed rescue, recovery, and clean-up operations after the World Trade Centerattacks, is now reopened and will remain open until September 11, 2014. Previously, any claims for which the associated Form WTC-12 was received after September 13, 2010 were time-barred. Those workers were not entitled to benefits. These claims will now be reopened and considered timely.

Workers who participated in the rescue, recovery, and clean-up operations of the World Trade Center between September 11, 2001 and September 11, 2002, should promptly register their service participation with the NYS Workers’ Compensation Board (Board). This registration will preserve workers’ rights to future benefits, should they ever be needed. Employed and volunteer workers should file a notarized Form WTC-12 prior to September 11, 2014, whether they were injured or not. Eligible work includes duty at Ground Zero, the Fresh Kills Landfill, duty on the barges and piers, and the morgues. Paid workers and volunteers covered under the New York State workers’ compensation system are eligible. The filing of the registration Form WTC-12 does NOT constitute the filing of a claim. The filing of the sworn statement does, however, extend the time to preserve the workers’ right to file a claim. Instructions are provided on the Form WTC-12 regarding the filing of a claim. Specifically, when the time comes to file a claim, an injured worker or volunteer should submit Form C-3, Employee Claim, for compensation or Form WTCVol-3, World Trade Center Volunteer’s Claim for Compensation, to the Board.

A completed Form WTC-12 can be submitted to any Board office. Completed forms must be received at any Board office by September 11, 2014. A postmark by this date is not sufficient. Workers can obtain Form WTC-12 from any Board office or from the NYS Workers’ Compensation Board website.

These changes are included in Workers’ Compensation Law § 162.

Previously Time-barred World Trade Center Claims

As stated earlier, any Form WTC-12 filings that were received after the previous original September 13, 2010 deadline are now considered timely. (The deadline was stated in Article 8-A as September 11, 2010, a Saturday;, however, the Board accepted filings that arrived on Monday, September 13, 2010, as timely.)

The Board will review its files to locate any World Trade Center claims previously disallowed asuntimely under Workers’ Compensation Law §§ 18 or 28, or from failure to file a timely Form WTC-12. The Board will, under its own initiative, now allow those particular World Trade Center claims and consider them timely. Workers whose Form WTC-12 were previously deemed untimely will be notified that their cases are no longer time-barred and instructed on how to obtain benefits should they become injured or ill. While the Board will be pro-actively checking its own files and providing notice to claimants, claimants should feel free to contact the Board, so that the Board may provide specific information regarding the reconsideration process. All parties will be notified that their cases are being reopened as their cases are brought forward for consideration. While it is not necessary for claimants to file reopen or hearing requests, the Board wishes to make workers aware that this process is now being initiated.

These changes are in Workers’ Compensation Law §§ 165 and 168.

Qualifying Conditions

Article 8-A now contains a new list of qualifying health conditions resulting from hazardous exposure for World Trade Center workers who participated in rescue, recovery, or clean-up operations. The categories are:

Diseases of the upper respiratory tract and mucosae, including conditions such as conjunctivitis, rhinitis, sinusitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis, vocal cord disease, upper airway hyper-reactivity, and tracheo-bronchitis, or a combination;
Diseases of the lower respiratory tract, including but not limited to, bronchitis, asthma, reactive airway dysfunction syndrome, and different types of pneumonitis, such as hypersensitivity, granulomatous, or eosinophilic;
Diseases of the gastroesophageal tract, including esophagitis and reflux disease, either acute or chronic, caused by exposure or aggravated by exposure;
any combination of such conditions; and
New onset diseases that develop in the future or result from exposure in the future, including cancer, COPD, asbestos-related diseases, heavy metal poisoning, musculoskeletal disease and chronic psychological disease.

These changes are in Workers’ Compensation Law § 161(3).

Outreach

The Board is committed to ensuring all World Trade Center workers receive the benefits and protections they are accorded under the law. To help achieve this, the Board is in the process of expanding our communication and outreach to World Trade Center workers. Our initiatives include:

Translating Form WTC-12 into the seven common languages other than English, designated by the Board’s Language Access Plan;
Reopening a dedicated phone line for World Trade Center workers, 1-855-WTC-2014 (1-855-982-2014);
Adding a dedicated page to the Board website for World Trade Center workers, www.wcb.ny.gov/WTC-12;
Using traditional and social media to reach World Trade Center workers;
Planning outreach to workers and groups representing World Trade Center workers; and
Mailing letters to previous untimely filers.

The Board’s dedicated World Trade Center work groups and hearing parts have functioned continuously since September, 2001

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FEMA: No extensions to file superstorm Sandy insurance suits

Originally published: November 21, 2013 6:27 PM
Updated: November 21, 2013 7:13 PM
By JOE RYAN joe.ryan@newsday.com

Greg Snow attempts to clear debris from superstorm…

Photo credit: Newsday / Thomas A. Ferrara | Greg Snow attempts to clear debris from superstorm Sandy from his yard on Atlantic Street in Lindenhurst. (Nov. 1, 2012)

The National Flood Insurance Program Thursday rejected requests from Sen. Charles Schumer and others to extend the deadline for homeowners to file lawsuits arguing for more money to cover damage from superstorm Sandy.

The government insurer, run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, issued a memo to private companies that administer flood policies, saying the 12-month statute of limitations is dictated by federal law and cannot be moved.

“FEMA lacks the authority to extend the time limit to file a lawsuit established by statute,” wrote James Sadler, director of claims for the flood insurance program.

According to FEMA, homeowners must sue within one year of having any portion of their flood insurance claim denied in writing.

Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford) and others have argued that the deadline doesn’t give Sandy victims enough time. They asked…

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Workers' Law Watch

Published by Pasternack Tilker Ziegler Walsh Stanton & Romano LLP

Published by:

A Day In The Life Of Ted the Tea-Partier

As Robot-Assisted Surgery Expands, Are Patients And Providers Getting Enough Information?

Legally Speaking – Volunteer Firefighters and Ambulance Workers

What’s in a Back Injury?

Legally Speaking – Afraid To File A Claim?

World Trade Center Registry Reopened and New Protections Accorded to Workers

Reopening of Registry and Extension of Filing Period for Form WTC-12

Previously Time-barred World Trade Center Claims

Qualifying Conditions

Outreach

FEMA: No extensions to file superstorm Sandy insurance suits