An examination of ACOEM's newly revised opioid practice guidelines for treatment of pain

By Robert G. Rassp, Esq.

We hate statistics but policymakers can't live without them. For example, 100 million residents of the United States have chronic pain according to a 2011 report from the Institute of Medicine. Pain is considered by some physicians as the fifth vital sign (blood pressure, respiration, temperature, heart rate are the other four). There are four categories of pain duration that a medical physician is obligated to treat-acute (one month), sub-acute (two to three months), chronic (more than three months), and post-operative...read more.

Federal: Bankruptcy Trustee Has No Claim to Worker's MSA Held in Bank Account. A Federal Bankruptcy Court in Pennsylvania has held in relevant part that a Medicare Set-Aside is not subject to administration by a bankruptcy trustee because it is not property of the bankruptcy estate in spite of the fact that...read more.

California: Entire Air Force Base Is Employer's "Premises" for Purposes of Going and Coming Rule. In as much as a civilian employee worked at a U.S. Air Force base and often traveled to multiple locations throughout the base to perform his work for the employer, the entire base constituted the employer's "premises" for purposes of...read more.

New York: Employee Fails to Establish Claim for Allergic Aspergillosis Due to Alleged Mold at Work. A New York appellate court reversed a WCB decision that concluded that an employee who worked for some 23 years at a garbage recycling and energy production facility had sustained an occupational disease in the form of...read more.

North Carolina: Court Explains Important Difference Between "Sequence" and "Consequence". A North Carolina appellate court affirmed an IC decision that found, in relevant part, that a worker's depression was causally connected to a work-related injury and, therefore, compensable...read more.