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The use of narcotics in treating injured workers faces heavy scrutiny today - and for good reason. The latest National Council on Compensation Insurance, Inc. (NCCI) Annual Issues Symposium found that: The average cost of narcotics per Workers Comp claim rose from $39 in 2003 to $59 in 2011. This is a rate of 0.79 narcotic prescriptions per claim, up from 0.56 in 2003 - a 14% increase in eight years. More than 5% percent of Comp claims that resulted in at least one prescription for if anymedication included five or more narcotics prescriptions. To curb the prescribing of narcotics for your injured employees, start by choosing the right Workers Comp physician. In most states, businesses have the legal right to designate the physician that injured employees must use. To find a physician in your area who is board certified in Occupational Medicine, go to http://www.acoem.org/. If none is available, look for a doctor who takes patients on Workers Compensation. In many cases, urgent care clinics make great partners. Once you find a physician, talk to him or her about your business, discuss your return-to-work program and the types of transitional jobs you offer - and ask about their attitude toward prescribing narcotics. Even if state law prohibits you from requiring injured workers to see a specific physician, you can still suggest that they do so. For example, you might say, "Doctor Joan at Acme Urgent Care has treated many of your co-workers and they've gotten better quickly." Selecting a doctor who doesn't dispense drugs and only prescribes narcotics when they're are absolutely necessary can go far to help injured employees get back to work and be healthy and productive as swiftly as possible - while keeping your Workers Comp costs under control.

From http://www.propertycasualty360.com Risqué Risks Issues can arise when adults wear costumes—especially those considered to be provocative—to work. Sexual harassment and other actions that fall under behavior related to hostile work environments have become prevalent in employment law disputes. A female sales employee filed a sexual harassment lawsuit when a male manager made lewd comments about her doctor costume. He unbuckled his pants, motioned to his groin, and said, “Here, Doctor. It hurts here.” The defendant was ordered to pay a civil penalty of $50,000 and related attorney fees for the plaintiff at the conclusion of Devane v. Sears Home Improvement Products Inc. Crazy Right?!

Springtime is known for many things, including beautiful blooming plants and flowers.  Getting ready to plant new crops, warmer weather, longer days and allergies. Allergies bring watery, itchy, irritated eyes; runny noses; uncontrollable sneezing and plain sinus misery.  The most common allergies come from pollens, animal dander, mold spores, dust mite and cockroaches allergens. Here are a few tips to help you with your allergies this Spring season: Head over to the pharmacy and stock up on allergy medications.  Talk with your doctor to see which ones will work the best for you.  Antihistamines, decongestants and nasal sprays should be at the top of your list. You can also ask about allergy shots.   An allergy shot could mean the end all of all allergy medications. Dehumidifers and air purifiers work great in the home. Get mattress and pillow coverings.  Mattresses and pillows host a ton of allergens.  Getting a cover for the mattress and pillow and washing them once a week or so, will keep allergens to a minimum. Before settling on any specific medical treatment for your allergies, please consult your doctor for the best treatment plan. Content provided by Transformer Marketing.

...outside the workplace: Nurses and doctors aid the injured or ill; contractors ...

Miguel Angel Fragoso-Hernandez sets goal of medical career in Watsonville WATSONVILLE >> At Pajaro Valley High School, Miguel Angel Fragoso-Hernandez is known as Nino, or Kid, a nickname bestowed during his freshman year, when, a year younger than most students after skipping first grade, he was the smallest player on the junior varsity soccer team. But Fragoso-Hernandez, now a 17-year-old graduating senior and class valedictorian, has another title in mind: doctor. He'll take a step toward achieving his career goal when he enrolls at UC Berkeley in the fall to study biology or biochemistry. At a graduation ceremony Thursday, he plans to remind his classmates how they reached this point in their lives. "It's not like you did it on your own. Your teachers helped you. Your parents helped you all through your life," Fragoso-Hernandez said. "At the same time, (the graduates) sit here because they worked for it." Fragoso-Hernandez will speak from experience. His parents, Martin Fragoso and Julia Hernandez, emigrated from Santiago Tulantepec in Hidalgo, Mexico, to the U.S. in their teens. They were very poor, Fragoso-Hernandez said. His father scrounged from garbage cans to get enough to eat. His mother, living on a rural ranch, watched two siblings die in childhood. Here, they worked in the fields at first, but later Miguel's father became an auto mechanic and eventually bought the business from his boss. After volunteering at Freedom Elementary School, his mother was hired to supervise students at recess. As the family's income improved, they were able to move from a series of crowded garages into a three-bedroom apartment in a Holohan Road complex. Though he was only 7 at the time, Fragoso-Hernandez recalls his amazement at the space and the fact that the apartment had its own kitchen. Growing up, he watched his father work two jobs at times, and his mother devote herself to work and raising three sons. But he didn't understand what they were trying to accomplish until high school. "I thought they came to find a better life for themselves," Fragoso-Hernandez said. "I didn't realize until my sophomore year that the ultimate goal was to have a better life for their children." Though neither Fragoso nor Hernandez went to school past the sixth grade, they knew education was the key to reaching that goal, and they instilled that value in their children. Fragoso-Hernandez said math and science captured his interest at any early age. He paid attention as his older brother did his homework, and by the end of kindergarten he had mastered multiplication. He finishes high school with a 4.24 grade point average. In addition, he was a forward on the varsity soccer team for three years, and has worked as a math tutor in an after-school program for elementary students since he was 14. His father's struggles with poor health led him to decide on a medical career, either as a general practitioner or a surgeon. "I grew up seeing him with all these problems, and I wanted to be able to do something but I couldn't," he said. "I want to be able to do something for someone in the same situation." When Fragoso-Hernandez was in middle school, the family moved to Gilroy, but he and his two brothers, Eric, a sophomore at Cal State Monterey Bay, and Marco, a seventh-grader at Lakeview Middle School, elected to commute each day so they could remain in Watsonville schools. The three brothers were born in Watsonville, and Fragoso-Hernandez considers the city home. Once he earns his medical degree, he plans to return. "Without Watsonville, I wouldn't be where I am today," he said. "I want to give back to this community." Content provided by http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/education/ci_25899165/valedictorian-credits-immigrant-parents-providing-opportunity

In the California case, Richie v. AutoNation, an employee out on CFRA (FMLA) was fired by his employer when he was found to have been working at a restaurant he owned during his leave period. The company's leave policy prohibited outside employment during leave. The court ruled in favor of the plaintiff, stating that FMLA/CFRA (the California equivalent) has a process to follow in shortening FMLA leave if you believe that an employee no longer qualifies for it. You cannot create your own rule or process and, in a sense, do an end run around FMLA protections. The court ruled that because job reinstatement is mandatory, the only way to stop leave properly is by following the CFRA process and questioning the medical opinion of the employee's doctor. This decision reminds us that ignorance of legal requirements is no excuse. In this case, the company argued that it had a good faith defense because it was not aware of this limitation on managing leave. The court essentially said "So what? It's a mandatory statutory obligation, which you can't avoid." As a different court stated, "A showing that an employee is unable to work in the employee's current job due to a serious health condition is enough to demonstrate incapacity. The fact that an employee is working for a second employer does not mean that he or she is not incapacitated from working in his or her current job." Some additional notes: The decision reminds us that an employer's policy on secondary employment during FMLA leave must be the same as that for employees who are not on FMLA leave. Otherwise, the policy itself violates the law. Second, the court overturned an arbitration decision in this case which allowed the court's good faith defense. Although review of arbitration is very limited, the court will step in if the arbitrator misapplied the law. Finally, whether it's FMLA leave, ADA accommodation leave, use of PTO or sick pay, etc., if you doubt the veracity of any employee's story (i.e. they were playing soccer or lifting pianos this weekend), you must follow the proper procedures so that you don't find yourself trapped like AutoNation did in this case.