Despite two bituminous coal mining certifications, a former Pennsylvania coal miner was charged with one count of risking a catastrophe, one count of recklessly endangering another person, and one count of unlawful conduct. The charges stem from an incident in which co-workers allege that Donald Adams Jr. was smoking a cigarette in an underground bituminous coal mine in which they worked. Co-workers complained of the odor of heavy cigarette smoke and located a plastic bottle and burned cigarette near doors of the coal mine. Once the workers exited the air lock doors in the mine, they found Adams near the area and smelled cigarette smoke. This activity was even more dangerous because nearly 117 other miners were working and methane gas was present in the mine at the time of the incident. Criminal violations of the Commonwealth’s mining laws are outlined in the Environmental Crimes Section and are actively pursued when the safety and health of mine workers are thought to be at risk. The Department ...

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, is leaving companies and states trying to understand how to manage the costs that will be associated with the new federal health care reform law. Many states are not happy with provisions included like state-created marketplaces (also known as exchanges) for low income workers to buy health insurance or broaden the number of people who qualify for Medicaid. Other states, such as Florida and Georgia are making efforts to find ways to help reduce healthcare costs all around.  Lawmakers in Florida and Georgia are taking a look at legislation that would get rid the practice of defensive medicine—which is a major cause of high health care costs. Experts say this would happen by overhauling state’s medical tort system—so that no hospital, medical provider or doctor would be sued again. Defensive medicine happens when in order to avoid a lawsuit—doctors order more procedures, medications or tests than are medically ...

A state appeals court recently found part of the Florida’s workers’ compensation insurance program unconstitutional. The ruling which was issued by the 1st District Court of Appeal struck down a law that put a two-year limit on temporary disability benefits.  Back in 2011, St. Petersburg, Florida firefighter Bradley Westphal stopped getting disability payments. He was unable to work due to injuries, but he also did not meet the criteria to qualify for permanent disability benefits. In a 24-page opinion that the two-year limit on temporary benefits is inadequate in situations such as these, Judge Brad Thomas wrote there is “simply no public necessity, much less an overpowering one, that has been demonstrated to justify such a fundamentally unjust system of redress for injury. The natural consequence of such a system of legal redress is potential economic ruination of the injured worker, with all the terrible consequences that this portends for the worker and his or her family.” ...

A New York Appellate Court recently ruled that an injured worker’s diabetes and obesity do not qualify as pre-existing conditions. This past January, the court ruled that since the conditions are not pre-existing conditions that would allow the state’s Special Disability Fund to reimburse her employer for worker’s compensation benefits.  The self-insured Schenectady Community Action Program Inc. was looking for reimbursement from the New York Special Disability Fund for JoAnn LaDuke’s workers’ comp benefits. The employee worked for the program for almost 20 years. According to court records, she received back and shoulder injuries back in May 2002 while helping students get off of a bus. Members of the Special Disability Fund maintained it was not liable for her benefits—which is what the New York State Worker’s Compensation Board had initially ruled. However, the New York appellate court reversed the compensation board’s decision. In the end, the court r ...

A Florida appellate court recently ruled that the state’s limit of 104 weeks for temporary total disability benefits is unconstitutional. It also granted up to 260 weeks of benefits for an injured worker whose temporary benefits had lapsed. Court records show that Bradley Westphal worked as a firefighter and paramedic for the city of St. Petersburg, Florida. Back in 2009, he suffered severe injuries to his knee and back while he was working. As a result, he had to have back surgery and additional medical treatment for nerve damage that was caused in his legs. Court records also show that Westphal reached the 104-week limit Florida has in place for TTD benefits when his treating doctors declared him to be totally disabled while he was recovering from surgery. The judge in this case determined that Westphal had not reached maximum medical improvement and that it was “too speculative” to determine whether or not he would be permanently and totally disabled. The judge’s ruling al ...