Man wins key judgment in Texas

• The 13th Court of Appeals affirmed a judgment awarding a man named Rodrigo Mendiola lifetime income benefits under the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act.
• Accident Fund General Insurance appealed a trial court’s ruling, arguing that, among other issues, there is legally and factually insufficient evidence that Mendiola suffered the total loss of use of his left hand.
• Mendiola was driving a commercial truck hauling a tanker with hot asphalt when he got into an accident causing the truck to roll over.
• As a result, the asphalt entered the truck cabin causing second and third-degree burns to Mendiola’s torso, as well as his left arm, hand, and leg.
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Workers’ comp continues downward trend in Minnesota

• Workers’ compensation claim rates and benefits paid in Minnesota continue their long-term downward trajectories, according to the Department of Labor and Industry.
• The 2023 Minnesota Workers’ Compensation System Report presents trend data from 2001 to the present regarding several aspects of Minnesota’s workers’ compensation system.
• For the past two years, the report has tracked two sets of trends for the workers’ compensation system: one for the whole system, including COVID-19 claims.
• Relative to the number of full-time-equivalent workers, the total number of paid claims dropped by 52%, indemnity claims by 17%, and medical-only claims by 62% from 2001 to 2021.
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COVID having impact on workers’ comp

• Long COVID cases account for 6% of all workers’ compensation claims, according to a study released by the Workers Compensation Research Institute.
• Many who have filed such claims have been unable to collect, in part because of variations in how states administer the insurance program designed to protect people who get sick or injured on the job, experts say.
• Among the workers who are struggling to receive benefits are essential workers and others who were unable to work remotely during the early days of the pandemic, often putting themselves at higher risk for infection.
• Workers’ compensation guarantees coverage to all employees harmed at work but often requires an employee to prove they were injured or sickened on the job.
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Injured workers self-medicating with cannabis

• Workers who use cannabis to treat work-related injuries and illnesses do so without medical guidance or authorization.
• Researchers from the Institute for Work and Health examined data for nearly 1,200 workers in the Ontario Life After Work Injury Study.
• The participants, who had an injury or illness that resulted in at least one lost workday, were interviewed 18 to 36 months post-injury/illness.
• Overall, 27.4% of the workers reported using cannabis in the past year.
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