Health Wonk Review – Roy M. Poses, MD, hosts Health Wonk Review #23 at Health Care Renewal. This is the first issue of the new year and it’s a meaty one, with 22 participants. While there, check out some of the other posts on Health Care Renewal, a multi-author blog with a focus on addressing threats to health care’s core values.
Unions sue OSHA – rawblogXport points us to a story in the Chicago Tribune (registration required) about a legal challenge to OSHA filed by the AFL-CIO and the United Food and Commercial Workers for failure to implement a rule requiring employers to supply personal protective equipment for their employees. The rule, which was proposed in 1999, would apply to as many as 20 million workers, and would require employers to supply such equipment as goggles, face shields, gloves, helmets, ear plugs and respirators.
While on the topic of OSHA, see Jordan Barab’s post: OSHA: The Next 35 Years — What Would You Do?
Medical tourism and outsourcing – Joe Paduda at Managed Care Matters points us to a few recent items on medical tourism and offshore health-care outsourcing. By the way, Joe’s informative blog is among the nominees for “Best Health Policies/Ethics Weblog 2006” – why not drop by and give Managed care Matters your vote?
New York Workplace Violence Prevention law – Diane Pfadenhauer of Strategic HR Lawyer gives us the rundown on workplace violence prevention requirements for New York’s public sector employers under the new law, which is scheduled to go into effect on March 7, 2007.
Missouri law upheld – a state court denied labor’s challenge to the 2005 workers compensation legislative reforms, which tightened the standards for compensability. Previously, work needed to be a “substantial factor” in any injury, but the 2005 law raised the bar to the necessity of work being a “prevailing factor. Opponents of the legislation change are likely to appeal this ruling.
Ohio Coingate – Prosecutions continue in Ohio’s rare coin investment scam that bilked the state workers’ compensation fund of about $50 million dollars. This week, Tim LaPointe, Tom Noe’s second in command, was sentenced yesterday to three years in state prison. “Prosecutors have charged 14 people in the Noe-related scandals, first uncovered by The Blade in 2005. In total, 12 have been convicted, including former Gov. Bob Taft, and his former chief-of-staff, Brian Hicks, both of whom pleaded no contest to ethics violations.”
