reforming pain treatment |
Reforming Chronic Pain Treatment: New Attitudes and Better Knowledge Advocated, by John Stahl, Esq. The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare authorized the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to study issues related to chronic pain. One reason for this effort was that chronic pain issues annually cost the workers' compensation system and society as a whole an estimated $635 billion in treatments and lost productivity. > Read more |
pain: alternative approaches |
Alternative Approaches to Treating Chronic Back Pain, by John Stahl, Esq. This is a hard pill to swallow for "pill mill" doctors and pharmaceutical companies that provide their supply, but alternative workers' compensation approaches to managing chronic pain are increasingly popular. A session at the WCRI 2011 Annual Conference demonstrated that a back injury does not always buy a ticket for a magical mystery tour. > Read more |
A national expert's year in review |
Thomas A. Robinson on 2011 Year in Review: Top 10 Issues in Workers' Compensation Law. In this 19-page LexisNexis Emerging Issues Analysis article on sale now at the LexisNexis Bookstore, workers' comp expert Thomas A. Robinson analyzes the top 10 workers' comp events for 2011 on a national level, with an eye to the hot button issues for 2012. His top 10 list covers: 1. Injuries to Telecommuters. 2. Opioid Abuse in Treatment of Injured Workers. 3. Mental Injuries Within the Work Environment. And more. > Read the abstract |
Larson's spotlight on recent cases |
Worker's Alcohol Consumption and Nap Defeat Claim for Fall Into Elevator Shaft, by Thomas A. Robinson. To support a compensable claim, it is generally not enough for the employee to show that the injury arose within the time and space limits of the employment; he or she must generally be acting in furtherance of the employer's business. It has long been established that work-connected activity goes beyond the direct services performed for the employer and includes at least some flexibility to attend to the personal comfort and human wants of the employee...> Read more. |