Vermont mulls bill to expand workers’ comp

• The Vermont legislature is considering expanding workers’ compensation eligibility for firefighters.
• The measure proposes to add breast cancer, thyroid cancer, and cancers originating in the reproductive system for which a firefighter may be eligible for workers’ compensation.
• The International Agency on Research of Cancer reported nationally 67 percent of active duty deaths among firefighters are a result of occupational cancer.
• In 2019 and 2020 there were 469 active duty deaths of which 348 were occupational cancer-related.
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Podiatrist, patient fraud in Texas

• A federal jury convicted two Texas men for their role in a scheme to fraudulently bill TRICARE for compounded creams that were medically unnecessary and procured through kickbacks and bribes.
• Brian Carpenter of Bridgeport, was a podiatrist who signed prescriptions for compounded pain and scar creams for TRICARE beneficiaries to whom he never spoke and whom he never examined or treated.
• Jerry Lee Hawrylak of Lake Worth, recruited Carpenter to sign the prescriptions and recruited TRICARE beneficiaries to accept the medically unnecessary creams.
• From 2014 to 2017, Carpenter and Hawrylak caused the Fort Worth-based pharmacy involved in the conspiracy to fraudulently bill TRICARE about $8.5 million for these creams.
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Workers’ comp survey finds rising costs for prescription drugs

• After a seven-year decline, prescription drug costs rose slightly with nearly one-third of the survey respondents reporting an increase in pharmacy spend, according to CompPharma’s Workers’ Compensation survey.
• However, the amount spent on opioids continued its downward trend with a 12.5% decrease between 2021 and 2020.
• Between 2019 and 2020, opioid spending went down 14.82%, and there was a huge 29.74% reduction between 2017 and 2018.
• Payers would like to offer alternatives, citing physical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and providing treatment early in the life of the claim.
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Amazon snagged in various lawsuits

• Amazon has several upcoming legal hearings in federal and state courts that center around workplace safety.
• The outcome of the hearings could potentially determine whether the company how the company manages its distribution centers and how workers go about handling packages.
• Any potential changes that could cost millions of dollars for the online retailer.
• Attorneys from the US Department of Justice and Amazon are set to set to meet this week with a federal magistrate judge to discuss Amazon’s progress in complying with subpoenas and other requests from OSHA.
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