Walmart Gives 500,000 Workers a Raise

Since many of my workers' compensation clients were injured on the job while working at Walmart, I was glad to see this article detailing how Walmart will raise their wages.  I usually have represent several injured Walmart employees per year.  Obviously, these raises should have happened years ago, but hopefully the company is coming around to paying its workers closer to a living wage.

Marijuana Is Not Linked to Car Crashes

Because many of my Pennsylvania workers' compensation clients are injured in car and truck accidents--either as a long haul truck driver or delivery driver--this article from Reason.com caught my eye.  Further, given that more and more states are making the use of small amounts of marijuana legal, this topic is on the front edge.

In "the first large-scale [crash risk] study in the United States to include drugs other than alcohol," NHTSA found that, once the data were adjusted for confounding variables, cannabis consumption was not associated with an increased probability of getting into an accident.  Further adjusting for alcohol consumption made the crash risk of cannabis consumers equal to that of drivers who tested negative for alcohol and all other drugs. In other words, the study provides no evidence that marijuana use increases crash risk. Furthermore, the authors note, that result is similar to what the best-designed previous studies have found: a small or nonexistent increase in crash risk.

The Car You Are Most Likely to Die In...

Because many of my clients are involved in car or truck crashes, this article caught my eye.  Basically, the article describes what vehicles are the safest…and what cars are the most dangerous and most likely to cause serious injuries and death if it's involved in an accident.  The data was compiled by the Insurance Institute for Highway safety.  As you might guess, automobile insurance companies are very interested in lower the amount of injuries sustained in car crashes, thus lowering the amount of money they have to pay out for medical bills and damages in negligence lawsuits.

When you look closely at the list, the most dangerous vehicles are the smaller…or mini-vehicles.  The number one most dangerous car to drive is the Kia Rio.  So, check out the list…you have been warned.

As always, please feel free to contact me for a free evaluation if you've been seriously injured in a car or truck accident.

This is why I have a job...

Walmart is clearly at fault, but blames the victim…

An article from Huffingtonpost.com indicates that Walmart is blaming comedian Tracy Morgan for injuries he sustained due to a Walmart truck driver crashing into Morgan's vehicle. I have represented many people who were injured at the hands of negligent Walmart truck drivers and I can tell you from experience, they do this every time.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Actor-comedian Tracy Morgan and other people in a limousine struck from behind by a Wal-Mart truck on a highway in June are at least partly to blame for their injuries because they weren't wearing seatbelts, the company said in a court filing Monday.

New maximum compensation rate for Pennsylvania workers

In Pennsylvania workers compensation cases, there is a maximum compensation rate.  Every year, this maximum rate is modified.  As we all know, when you are injured at work and you lose wages, the workers compensation insurance company has to determine your “average weekly wage.”  Based upon that, most employees will get two-thirds of their average weekly wage, up to a maximum amount.
 
The maximum rate for 2015 has been set at $951.00 per week in wage benefits.  Therefore, even if you made $10,000.00 per week, the max that you will receive if you are off work due to a work injury would be $951.00.


As always, should you have any Pennsylvania workers compensation questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

150 Work Related Deaths Per Day in America

This statistic from a report by the AFL-CIO is appalling.  Work-related deaths will never be completely eliminated but we need to do a much better job than this.  See the report here.

New Cure for Back Pain??

Many of my clients suffer from back pain.  Whether it is caused by a work related injury or a car or truck accident or a fall in the grocery store, I see back injuries all the time with my clients.  So, when I read stuff (and I read a lot of stuff...) I'm always interested in medical research related to the injuries and conditions that affect my clients.  That's why I was very interested in this new report regarding new research in curing back pain.....from RawStory.com:

"Up to 40% of patients with chronic back pain could be cured with a course of antibiotics rather than surgery, in a medical breakthrough that one spinal surgeon says is worthy of a Nobel prize. Surgeons in the UK and elsewhere are reviewing how they treat patients with chronic back pain after scientists discovered that many of the worst cases were due to bacterial infections.

Specialists who deal with back pain have long known that infections are sometimes to blame, but these cases were thought to be exceptional. That thinking has been overturned by scientists at the University of Southern Denmark who found that 20% to 40% of chronic lower back pain was caused by bacterial infections.

“This will not help people with normal back pain, those with acute, or sub-acute pain – only those with chronic lower back pain,” Dr Hanne Albert, of the Danish research team, told the Guardian. “These are people who live a life on the edge because they are so handicapped with pain. We are returning them to a form of normality they would never have expected.”

In the first report, they explain how bacterial infections inside slipped discs can cause painful inflammation and tiny fractures in the surrounding vertebrae. Working with doctors in Birmingham, the Danish team examined tissue removed from patients for signs of infection. Nearly half tested positive, and of these, more than 80% carried bugs called Propionibacterium acnes.

The microbes are better known for causing acne. They lurk around hair roots and in the crevices in our teeth, but can get into the bloodstream during tooth brushing. Normally they cause no harm, but the situation may change when a person suffers a slipped disc. To heal the damage, the body grows small blood vessels into the disc. Rather than helping, though, they ferry bacteria inside, where they grow and cause serious inflammation and damage to neighbouring vertebrae that shows up on an MRI scan.

In the second paper, the scientists proved they could cure chronic back pain with a 100-day course of antibiotics. In a randomised trial, the drugs reduced pain in 80% of patients who had suffered for more than six months and had signs of damaged vertebra under MRI scans.  Albert stressed that antibiotics would not work for all back pain. Over-use of the drugs could lead to more antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which are already a major problem in hospitals. But she also warned that many patients will be having ineffective surgery instead of antibiotics that could alleviate their pain."

So, in summary, this potentially could be a huge help in curing chronic, long-lasting back pain.  It really is a fascinating read.  Take a look at the link above.