National pharmacy pays fine for illegal prescriptions

• Injured Workers Pharmacy, one of the largest purchasers of opioids in the U.S., agreed to pay $10 million to resolve allegations it violated the Controlled Substances Act by improperly filling prescriptions for controlled substances.
• As part of the settlement agreement, IWP admitted that between 2014 and 2019 it failed to adequately address prescriptions with “red flags,” including high doses of opioids, early refills, and dangerous drug combinations, before dispensing them to injured workers.
• “Red flags” indicate prescriptions that may not have been issued for a legitimate medical purpose, such as abuse or diversion.
• IWP previously settled a parallel investigation by the Massachusetts Attorney General into its dispensing practices.
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Likely Illinois law could impact workers’ comp

• New legislation in Illinois passed under House Bill 2862, further regulates temporary labor, and has the potential of changing the entire landscape of an employers’ use of temporary labor.
• One of the most significant changes is the new requirement that after 90 days of an assignment to a client by the staffing agency.
• The temporary worker must be paid at the same rate and provided the same benefits as the client’s comparable regular employees.
• Under the bill, temporary staffing agencies must pay their employees who are assigned to a client for more than 90 calendar days.Read more

Heat impacting workers’ comp

• North Carolina employers may be paying higher workers’ compensation claim costs in years with more hot weather.
• The Excessive Heat in North Carolina report found a link between extreme heat exposure in four major industries — agriculture, construction/erection, cartage/trucking, and commercial enterprises — and avoidable costs to employers, including increased worker compensation for missed wages.
• When all four industries were considered together, there was a positive correlation between the annual number of hours with a heat index above 90 degrees and workers’ comp claim costs for lost wages.
• Employers paid employees more during hot years for missed work days due to illness or injury from any cause.
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Ohio plumber must pay $42,000 for workers’ comp fraud

• A plumber from Howard, Ohio, must reimburse the state’s Bureau of Workers’ Compensation over $42,000 in restitution following his felony conviction of workers’ comp fraud.
• A judge ordered Mica Jepsen to pay the bureau $42,196 in restitution after he pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation fraud, a fifth-degree felony.
• The judge also sentenced him to five years of community control. If Jepsen violates the terms of his probation, he is subject to a suspended sentence of 12 months in jail.
• Jepsen worked as a plumber for two separate companies while receiving BWC disability benefits and fraudulently concealed and withheld his employment as a plumber to illegally collect the benefits.
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