Indiana court upholds denial of workers’ comp claim

• A man who didn’t file his worker’s comp claim in Indiana until 30 months after his accident is not entitled to benefits because his claim was not timely, the Court of Appeals of Indiana has affirmed.
• On Dec. 5, 2018, Richard Sharp, who worked in Louisville, was working for Armstrong in Indiana when he was in a car accident. Armstrong reported the accident to the Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims, and Sharp began receiving $614.99 in weekly disability benefits.
• Sharp filed a worker’s compensation claim in Indiana. Armstrong moved to dismiss the claim because it wasn’t filed within the two-year statute of limitations set forth in the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Act.
• A single member of the Indiana Worker’s Compensation Board agreed with Armstrong and dismissed the petition, and the full board affirmed.
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USPS wrongfully terminates employee

• A federal court in Tacoma, Washington, found that the U.S. Postal Service wrongfully retaliated against an employee for reporting an injury.
• The court’s action follows an investigation by OSHA that found the USPS terminated the worker in retaliation for filing an injury report.
• The agency also determined the USPS stopped conducting performance evaluations and then fired the worker before the end of their new hire probation.
• The termination violated the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act, which protects an employee’s right to report injury without fear of reprisal.
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Massachusetts reaches settlement with CVS

• Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell’s reached a $6.15 million settlement with CVS Pharmacy to resolve allegations that it failed to follow prescription pricing procedures that are in place to keep costs down and prevent overcharges in the workers’ compensation insurance system.
• The assurance of discontinuance, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges that in some circumstances CVS failed to follow Massachusetts law and regulations that help keep costs low in the Massachusetts workers compensation insurance system.
• Under state regulations, various benchmarks must be reviewed when making pricing determinations for certain workers’ compensation insurance prescription drug charges.
• The settlement identified alleged failures concerning prescriptions filled in Springfield, New Bedford, Boston, and Worcester CVS locations.
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DEA takes back unneeded drugs

• The Drug Enforcement Administration and its law enforcement partners disposed of 663,725 pounds of unneeded medications at nearly 5,000 collection sites across the country.
• Since its inception in 2010, DEA’s bi-annual National Prescription Take Back Day has removed more than 17 million pounds of unnecessary medications from communities across the country.
• DEA continues to expand opportunities to make the safe disposal of medications more accessible nationwide.
• Safe medication disposal receptacles along with DEA Take Back events provide families with easy, no-cost opportunities to get rid of medicines stored in the home that can be susceptible to abuse and theft.
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