Firefighters in St. Louis Should Be aware Of Maines Actions Regarding Cancer Claims

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

System benefits to firefighters who contract cancer. The bill presumes that a firefighter’s exposure to smoke or fumes from suspected burning carcinogens is a causal factor in the development of a wide variety of cancers. It would be up to a municipality or state Workers Comp board to disprove the claim, and that’s a change that opponents say will increase insurance costs for Maine municipalities.

It’s not that state Rep. Cynthia Dill disapproves of firefighters, or the work they do. “Let the record be clear, I love firefighters,” she says. But the Cape Elizabeth Democrat is not enthusiastic about a bill that has drawn off-duty Maine firemen to the halls of the State House to personally lobby for its passage.

LD 621 would change Maine’s Workers Compensation laws to presume that a firefighter who develops cancer did so as the result of exposure to smoke or fumes from burning materials suspected of being carcinogens. It would be up to a municipality to disprove the claim along with the burden of paying additional insurance costs.

Dill says that’s an easy buck to pass for the Legislature. “If this bill were a study, we wouldn’t pass it, because we in the Legislature don’t have the money. Instead, this is the bill that transfers the cost of an expansion of benefits from the health insurance providers to our towns.”

Nearly 30 states have adopted the law modeled after legislation that was passed in California. Ron Green, a Bangor firefighter, says that the provision hasn’t produced the kinds of new costs that concern Dill and other opponents. “What’s important to point out is that 29 other states have passed this into legislation, some have had it in law as many as 20 years,” Green says. “None of these states have shown a significant increase to their workers compensation systems. California, who is the biggest employer of firefighters in the country, it had such minimal impact to their compensation system that they didn’t even do an actuarial study on this.”

“The debate to me was not about cancer, the debate was about who was going to be responsible for paying for this issue,” says State Rep. Andre Cushing, a Hampden Republican. Cushing has problems with the bill because it fails to draw distinctions between genetically-linked cancers and those that could be contracted through employment. Under the bill, a firefighter with five years of employment would be able to file a claim if he or she contracted cancer within 10 years of their last active employment or prior to 70 years of age.

“What is the threshold for people participating?” Cushing says. “Did they indeed contract cancer that was related to the job or did they have a genetic predisposition in their family and now we’re covering issues that weren’t directly related to the job?”

As a workers comp lawyer for more than 30 years, state Rep. Thomas Watson has studied his share of labor law. The Bath Democrat, who supports the bill, says firefighters now have a tough time making job-related cancer claims. “If a firefighter comes to me now and says ‘I have prostate cancer, I fought fires for ten years and my doctor says it might be connected,’ I have to say in good faith, unless you’ve got a lot more, I probably won’t be able to take that case.”

Watson points out that the bill requires firefighters to declare any family cancer histories or non-firefighting activities that could have resulted in exposure to carcinogens. The House overwhelmingly agreed and gave initial approval to the bill in a 104-40 vote.

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments »

Missouri Work Comp Act Unfair – St. louis Lawyer cites Cape Girardeau Attorneys Argument

Monday, May 18th, 2009

New law breaks promises made when workers’ comp began

Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Michael Maguire

By the time you read this, the governor will probably have signed the workers’ compensation bill. His signature will mark the betrayal of working people in Missouri who were made a promise nearly 80 years ago that they would be treated fairly if they agreed to accept workers’ compensation.

Keep in mind this is not a needed change. The statistics from our Division of Workers’ Compensation show that insurance companies are making record returns on their premiums, which means they are not having to pay out much.

It is also not an attempt to be friendly to employers, as the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry argues, although any time the chamber speaks up when you are talking about people’s rights––look out. If that were the case, this change could have been handled like it has since I started practicing law in Missouri in 1986: by getting the two sides together and coming up with a solution. For the last three years, those representing employees have tried to get insurance companies and employers to work on their complaints. They refused to do anything meaningful, biding their time until they had control of the legislature and the governor.

A little history is worth remembering. When the workers’ comp system was set up––in exchange for having a required mechanism that would provide medical care if you were hurt doing your job, provide some money if you could not work and provide payments if you had some disability as a result of your injuries––workers gave up certain rights:

1. They lost their right to sue their employers in regular court.

2. They lost the right to pick the doctor who would treat them––as the employer (read that to mean insurance company) gets to pick.

3. Artificial caps were placed on the amounts a worker could receive for weekly benefits and for permanency benefits.

4. Employees could not be awarded any damages for just pain and suffering, although someone who loses a hand or a leg or suffers any kind of work injury will readily tell you it hurts like hell.

Part of the promise made so many years ago was a presumption in favor of the employee, meaning that if all things were equal, meaning it was a tie on the proof, that the decision should go to the worker. Employers knew that and signed off on that when they set up this system. Now because of
this manufactured business-unfriendly crisis, that presumption is gone. The burden of proof for a worker has been changed from the work being a substantial factor of the injury to the prevailing factor.

Administrative law judges have faithfully followed the promise and interpreted the law, and because businesses don’t like what that means, they are putting politics into the process. Those judges will now be reviewed every two years, and if they don’t come up to standards, which will be determined by––guess who––pro-employer types, then they are out of a job.

Never mind that employers have two bites of the apple if they don’t like a decision of the judge. They get to appeal to the Labor and Industrial Relations Commission. And if that does not work, they can appeal to the Court of Appeals. I consider this provision alone character assassination of the fine men and women who routinely handle thousands of cases as judges and legal advisors with great intelligence and diligence.

Part of what this cadre has done is to change lawyers’ fees. Yes, I am an lawyer. And, yes, I handle cases of employees. I admit I will be looking at cases more closely, because the new law says if the company makes an offer and it is rejected, then my fee can only be a percentage of the amount I recover above that offer. If I take a case and it takes little or no work, I have no problem with that theory. However, if the usual case occurs and the employer makes the case go on for months, requiring extra work and I have to try the case, then it is not fair to me or to the employee to limit that award.

I believe, and always have, that the law is supposed to be fair––not too much for one side or the other. I know the employers and their cronies in the legislature have not given back to employees their rights they gave up when they created workers’ comp. The promise has been broken, and the
owners get all the benefits. The workers get the shaft.

Don’t be surprised after all these changes go into effect that nothing happens to the premiums paid by employees. I have said all along that the cyclical nature of insurance companies investing premiums in the stock market has more to do with higher premiums than any $6-an-hour line worker filing a claim for carpal tunnel syndrome.

If you think this is wrong and unfair to the working man and woman, let the governor and our local senator and representatives and the lieutenant governor know, because they all supported this promise breaking.

Michael H. Maguire of Cape Girardeau is a lawyer.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

CBS NEWS VIDEO ON SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM AND ITS PROBLEMS

Monday, May 18th, 2009

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St Louis Attorney Cites Study On Social Security Hearing Backlog

Monday, May 18th, 2009

Published: Dec 19, 2007 12:00 AM SUBMITTED by JEFF SWANEY FREE CONSULTATION 314-481-7778

Modified: Dec 19, 2007 02:40 AM

Stringing along those who deserve benefits

Mike Ervin, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

We must stop the inexcusable delay in getting Social Security benefits to people with disabilities.Hundreds of thousands of people who have filed legitimate disability claims with the Social Security Administration have been forced to wait, on average, an astonishing 520 days for a hearing on their claims. Many have waited as long as three years, losing their homes in the process.

Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue has conceded that some people have even died while waiting for their disability payments to come through.

That’s mostly because the Bush administration and Republicans in Congress have provided $4 billion less than the agency has requested for its staffing needs.

The result, according to Sylvester J. Schieber, chairman of the Social Security Advisory Board, is “crushing backlogs, rapidly growing application rates and steadily declining numbers of workers to process the workloads.”

There are fewer people working at the Social Security Administration today than there were during the Ford administration. But the number of applicants claiming a disability has doubled since 2001 and is growing so rapidly that it is estimated that the backlogs of people waiting more than a year will bloat to 1 million by 2010.

Congress and the White House have been well aware of this crisis. The Advisory Board has issued 21 reports and statements since 1998 calling for more resources for Social Security disability programs.

Meanwhile, the situation keeps getting worse. The backlog has grown from 311,000 in 2000 to 755,000 today, according to The New York Times.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., put it well in a letter he sent to President Bush in September. “The bottom line is,” Dorgan wrote, “that elderly Americans and other poor individuals with disabilities that prevent them earning a living and paying their bills deserve better. Social Security disability benefits keep millions of disabled Americans out of poverty. But these people who are unable to work and need immediate assistance to avoid financial collapse do not appear to be a priority for your administration.”

What’s more, most of these people filing for disability claims have already paid into the Social Security system by virtue of the deductions from their paychecks. And fraud is rare, Astrue acknowledges.

Imagine if this were a private insurance company collecting disability insurance premiums and then stringing its customers along for years when they need to collect. This would be seen as a major case of insurance fraud.

But in Washington, it’s business as usual.

That’s got to change.

(Mike Ervin is a disability-rights activist with ADAPT (www.adapt.org). He wrote this article for the Progressive Media Project.)

Read The News & Observer print edition on your computer with the new e-edition!

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St. Louis Social Security Disability Attorney Welcomes attempts To Reduce Hearing Backlog

Monday, May 18th, 2009

News Page — SSA to Hire Additional Staff & Open New Hearing Offices

In testimony on April 28, 2009, before the House Ways and Means Social Security Subcommittee, SSA updated Congress regarding its plans to use the funds appropriated for fiscal year 2009 and under the stimulus legislation to open new hearing offices and hire additional, desperately needed staff. The stimulus funds ($500 million) will allow SSA to hire more than 2000 additional staff: 39 new ALJs; more than 500 ODAR support staff; 1500 staff for field offices; and 300 DDS disability examiners. When combined with the fiscal year 2009 appropriation, SSA expects to hire more than 7000 new employees, which includes additional staff and replacing vacancies, by September 2009.You can follow SSA’s hiring on its website that reports on its use of the stimulus funds, www.ssa.gov/recovery. The website includes weekly reports that detail SSA activities, including hires for its different components, broken down by SSA region.

At the April 28 hearing, SSA stated its plans to open 13 new ODAR hearing offices in the following locations:

Phoenix, AZ
St. Petersburg, FL
Tallahassee, FL
Atlanta South, GA
Danville or Portage, IN
Topeka, KS
Livonia, MI
Mt. Pleasant, MI
Fayetteville, NC
Akron, OH
Toledo, OH
Auburn, WA
Madison, WI

In March 2009, the Commissioner announced plans for 10 new hearing offices but decided to expand the number to 13. In addition, three new National Hearing Center locations are planned:

Albuquerque, NM (opened March 2009)
Chicago, IL (late fiscal year 2009)
Baltimore, MD (early fiscal year 2010)

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

St. louis Personal Injury Attorney Posts Article regarding Low Back Spinal Fusion

Saturday, May 16th, 2009

By: Peter F. Ullrich, Jr., MD Font sizeAAA
Fig 1: X-ray of pedicle screws in place (lateral view)
(larger view) A spinal fusion surgery is designed to stop the motion at a painful vertebral segment, which in turn should decrease pain generated from the joint. There are many approaches to lumbar spinal fusion surgery, and all involve adding bone graft to an area of the spine to set up a biological response that causes the bone graft to grow between the two vertebral elements and create a fusion, thereby stopping the motion at that segment.

For patients with the following conditions, if abnormal and excessive motion at a vertebral segment results in severe pain and inability to function, a fusion may be considered :

Article continues below
Degenerative disc disease

Isthmic, degenerative or postlaminectomy spondylolisthesis.

Other conditions that may be treated by a spinal fusion surgery include a weak or unstable spine (caused by infections or tumors), fractures, scoliosis or deformity.

How spine fusion surgery works

At each level in the spine, there is a disc space in the front and paired facet joints in the back. Working together, these structures define a motion segment and permit multiple degrees of motion. Two vertebral segments need to be fused together to stop the motion at one segment, so that an L4-L5 (lumbar segment 4 and lumbar segment 5) spinal fusion is actually a one-level spinal fusion.

More Spinal Fusion Info:

Cervical Spinal Fusion

Lumbar Spinal Fusion

Fusion Surgery Recovery

Bone Grafts
A spine fusion surgery involves using bone graft to cause two vertebral bodies to grow together into one long bone. Bone graft can be taken from the patient’s hip (autograft bone) during the spine fusion surgery, harvested from cadaver bone (allograft bone). or manufactured (synthetic bone graft substitute).

In general, a lumbar spinal fusion surgery is most effective for those conditions involving only one vertebral segment. Most patients will not notice any limitation in motion after a one-level spine fusion. Only in rare cases should a three (or more) level fusion surgery for pain alone be considered, although it may be necessary in cases of scoliosis and lumbar deformity.

When necessary, fusing two segments of the spine may be a reasonable option for treatment of pain. However, spinal fusion of more than two segments is unlikely to provide pain relief because it removes too much of the normal motion in the lower back and places too much stress across the remaining joints.

There are several types of spinal fusion surgery options, including:

Posterolateral gutter fusion—the procedure is done through the back

Posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF/TLIF))—the procedure is done from the back and includes removing the disc between two vertebrae and inserting bone into the space created between the two vertebral bodies

Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF)—the procedure is done from the front and includes removing the disc between two vertebrae and inserting bone into the space created between the two vertebral bodies

Anterior/posterior spinal fusion—the procedure is done from the front and the back
This is an excellent article that I ran accross. Jeff Swaney Free Consultation 314-481-7778
It is important to note that with any type of spine fusion surgery, there is a risk of clinical failure (meaning that the patient’s pain does not go away) despite achieving a successful fusion. Obtaining a successful result from a spine fusion requires and accurate preoperative diagnosis, a technologically adept surgeon, and a patient with a reasonably healthy lifestyle (non smoker, non obese) who is motivated to pursue rehabilitation and restoration of their function.

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments »

St. Louis Work Comp Attorney Provides Information Regarding Carpal Tunnel Surgery

Saturday, May 16th, 2009

During open carpal tunnel release surgery, the

An incision is made at the base of the palm of the hand. This allows the doctor to see the transverse carpal ligament. After the ligament is cut, the skin is closed with stitches. The gap where the ligament was cut is left alone and eventually fills up with scar tissue.

See a picture of

If you have open carpal tunnel release surgery, you usually do not need to stay in the hospital. It is usually done under

What To Expect After Surgery

transverse carpal ligament is cut, which releases pressure on the median nerve and relieves the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.open carpal tunnel release surgery .local anesthetic and you can go home on the same day.

After surgery, the hand is wrapped. The stitches are removed 10 to 14 days after surgery. You may be directed to wear a splint for several weeks. The pain and numbness may go away right after surgery or may take several months to subside. Try to avoid heavy use of your hand for up to 3 months.

When you return to work depends on whether the dominant hand (the hand you use most) was involved, on your work activities, and on the effort that you put into rehabilitative physical therapy.

If you have surgery on your nondominant hand and do not do repetitive, high-risk activities at work, you may return to work within 1 to 2 days, although 7 to 14 days is most common.
If you have surgery on your dominant hand and do repetitive activities at work, you may require 6 to 12 weeks for a full recovery before you can return to previous work duties. Physical therapy may speed your recovery.

Why It Is Done

Open carpal tunnel surgery is considered when:

Symptoms are still present after a long period of nonsurgical treatment. In general, surgery is not considered until after 3 to 12 months of non-surgical treatment. But this assumes that you are having ongoing symptoms but no sign of nerve damage. Nerve damage would make surgery more urgent.
Severe symptoms (such as persistent loss of feeling or coordination in the fingers or hand, or no strength in the thumb) restrict normal daily activities.
There is damage to the median nerve (shown by nerve test results and loss of hand or finger function), or a risk of nerve damage.
Tumors or other growths need to be removed.

How Well It Works

Most people who have surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome have fewer or no symptoms of pain and numbness in their hand after surgery. More than 70 out of 100 people are satisfied with their results, and as many as 90 out of 100 people have no night pain after surgery.

In rare cases, the symptoms of pain and numbness may return (the most common complication), or there may be temporary loss of strength when pinching or gripping an object, due to the cutting of the transverse carpal ligament.

If the thumb muscles have been severely weakened or wasted away, hand strength and function may be limited even after surgery.

Risks

1

The risk and complication rates of open surgery are very low. Major problems such as nerve damage happen in fewer than 1 out of 100 surgeries (less than 1%).There is a small risk that the median nerve or other tissues may be damaged during surgery. After open surgery, recovery may be slower than after endoscopic surgery, and there may be some pain in the wrist and hand. You may also have some tenderness around the scar. There are also the risks of any type of surgery, including possible infection and

What To Think About

2 risks of general anesthesia . But most open carpal tunnel surgery is done with local anesthesia or regional block rather than with general anesthesia.

Open carpal tunnel surgery cuts open the base of the palm and requires a longer recovery period than endoscopic surgery. Painful scar tissue may be more likely to develop after open surgery than after endoscopic surgery.

Both endoscopic and open carpal tunnel release have benefits and risks. Studies do not show that one procedure is better than the other.Talk to your doctor about your options.

Complete the

3 2 Should I have surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome ? surgery information form (PDF)

PDF document?)

Citations

Katz JM, Simmons BP (2002). Carpal tunnel syndrome. New England Journal of Medicine, 346(23): 1807–1812.Scholten RJPM, et al. (2007). Surgical treatment options for carpal tunnel syndrome. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (4).Ashworth N (2007). Carpal tunnel syndrome, search date December 2006. Online version of BMJ Clinical Evidence. Also available online: http://www.clinicalevidence.com.

Author	Shannon Erstad, MBA/MPH
Editor	Kathleen M. Ariss, MS
Associate Editor	Pat Truman, MATC
Primary Medical Reviewer	William M. Green, MD – Emergency Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer	Patrick J. McMahon, MD – Orthopedics
Specialist Medical Reviewer	David Pichora, MD, FRCSC – Orthopedic Surgery
Last Updated	October 29, 2008

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Open carpal tunnel surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome

During open carpal tunnel release surgery, the transverse carpal ligament is cut, which releases pressure on the median nerve and relieves the symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.

An incision is made at the base of the palm of the hand. This allows the doctor to see the transverse carpal ligament. After the ligament is cut, the skin is closed with stitches. The gap where the ligament was cut is left alone and eventually fills up with scar tissue.

See a picture of open carpal tunnel release surgery .

If you have open carpal tunnel release surgery, you usually do not need to stay in the hospital. It is usually done under local anesthetic and you can go home on the same day.