Doctor sentenced for opioid distribution

• A Tennessee nurse practitioner known locally as the “Rock Doc” was recently sentenced to 20 years in prison for illegally prescribing opioids, including oxycodone and fentanyl, from his medical practice in Jackson, Tennessee.
• Jeffrey W. Young Jr. used his medical practice, Preventagenix, to illegally prescribe medically unnecessary controlled substance pills to hundreds of patients, including a pregnant woman and women with whom he had inappropriate physical relationships.
• Young maintained a party-type atmosphere at his clinic, and prescribed these drugs at least in part to boost his popularity on social media and promote a self-produced reality TV show pilot based on his self-identified persona, the “Rock Doc.”
• Young prescribed more than 100,000 doses of hydrocodone, oxycodone, and fentanyl into the community.
  Read more

Labor trends favoring workers’ comp

• The current labor market has several dynamics that the workers’ compensation industry can consider positive.
• While employment growth has slowed, wage growth has remained elevated, boosting payroll growth and premiums for most industries.
• Additionally, rising participation has increased the labor supply.
• This has reduced the struggle for companies to find workers that fit their needs.
  Read more

Connecticut Senators wants workers’ comp study

• A bill in the Connecticut Senate would require the Workers’ Compensation Commission to conduct a study of the workers’ comp system in our state.
• The report has to be completed by Jan. 1, 2025, and the results of this study — with recommendations — will be submitted to the General Assembly’s Labor and Public Employees Committee. 
• The deadline for the Labor and Public Employees Committee to approve bills and advance them out of committee is this week.
• Bills affecting labor and employment issues may also emerge from other committees.
  Read more

Georgia pesticide manufacturer fired employee for safety complaint

• The U.S. Labor Dept. filed a complaint against a Lawrenceville pesticide and agricultural chemical manufacturer after the company allegedly terminated a worker’s employment in retaliation for filing a safety and health complaint with the department.
• The complaint proposes Avenger Products LLC and its parent company Kittrich Corp. pay the former customer service manager back pay, compensatory and punitive damages to address lost wages, other financial losses, and emotional distress related to their termination and forbids the company from future retaliation.
• “Employers are required to comply with all applicable anti-retaliation laws, including those meant to ensure worker protection when raising health and safety concerns in the workplace under the OSH Act,” said Regional Solicitor of Labor Tremelle Howard in Atlanta.
• OSHA alleges that Avenger Products violated the Occupational Safety and Health Act by ending the worker’s employment because they exercised their rights protected under the act.
  Read more