Vaccine Hits Essential Worker

• An Iowa worker is seeking working comp saying he suffered injuries, after receiving the COVID vaccine.
• Cedar Rapids employee, Larry Driscoll, says after he was inundated with information pushing the importance of being vaccinated, he opted to get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
• He says he felt it was important because he was an essential worker. After suffering several side effects including fatigue and droopy eyes, he filed a workers’ comp claim.
• The Workers’ Compensation Commissioner says that the claim isn’t valid because, while he got vaccinated at work, it wasn’t required. Read More

Court: TTD Can Be Recouped

• A ruling by The Ohio Supreme Court places a limit on how long an injured worker can receive total temporary benefits.
• Injured worker, Lorretta Dillon, had already received TTD benefits, after injuries she sustained at work. Her employer’s independent medical examiner determined that she had reached maximum medical improvement, and her TTD benefits were terminated.
• Dillon had received some benefits before the termination, but the state’s Bureau of Workers Compensation tried to claw them back. Dillon says she was entitled to keep the benefits she’d already received. She argued that because she had received benefits prior to the MMA hearing, she was entitled to keep them.
• The Court disagrees, ruling that after MMA has been determined, any TTD benefits awarded prior to the determination of MMA can be recouped. The decision overrules years of precedent.
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Opioid Use Takes a Dip

• Controlling the use of Opioids is having a positive effect, according to a report by a utilization review technology company. Workers’ comp regulators have played a role in reducing their use.
• The use of sustained release opioids have decreased by 10% in 2023, according to the report. Cost and usage per claim have also dropped.
• Migraine medications did increase in 2023 by 17%. Respiratory medications also saw a spike. Data also show that mail order prescriptions are also going down.
• Opioids have always posed a problem in workers treatment, although many doctors who treat injured workers, say that they’re still effective for some treatments.
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Uber, Lyft Face Challenges in MA

• As in other areas of the country, the fight over whether ride share employees are actual employees is being challenged.
• Massachusetts is working on legislation that will more clearly define employees and independent contractors. Bills H111/S 267 are trying to protect workers, while also allowing ride share companies flexibility in hiring.
• Labor groups say that by classifying its workers as independent contractors, ride share companies and other gig companies, can deny them benefits including workers’ compensation.
• Reportedly, in some parts of the country, Uber and Lyft drivers have been assaulted by passengers. Being classified as independent contractors does not guarantee that they’re covered by workers’ comp.
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