The Delaware Superior Court overturned a determination that an injured worker failed to exhaust reasonable conservative measures to treat his knee injury before opting for surgery. Case: Baxter v. Verizon Communications,…

The Delaware Superior Court said the Industrial Accident Board did not err when it held that a truck driver was a farmworker and therefore not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits…

The Nebraska Court of Appeals upheld a finding of compensability for a worker’s knee injury, but overturned the award of permanent total disability benefits as unsupported by adequate factual findings. Case:…

The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled that an employer was properly penalized for failing to make an indemnity payment to an injured worker because of a dispute over when and if…

The Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court activated its web-based data entry application for diagnostic related group reports. The Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Act requires covered hospitals, workers’ compensation insurers, self-insured employers and risk…

The Nebraska Court of Appeals upheld the denial of a worker’s claim because she failed to demonstrate a causal connection between her alleged injuries and her workplace accident. Case: Chavez v. Tyson…

The Hawaii Court of Appeals revived an injured health care worker’s untimely claim for her tuberculosis infection. Case: Weis v. Pali Momi Medical Center, No. CAAP-19-0000575, 06/04/2024, unpublished. Facts: Teresa L. Weis…

The Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations cannot reject an appeal as untimely based on its “sent” date for a decision without direct evidence that…

Hawaii Employers’ Mutual Insurance Co. announced a $5 million dividend for qualifying policyholders. The carrier said the dividend will be the largest in its history and brings to $53 million the…

Large language model does better than human mathematicians trying to solve combinatorics problems inspired by the card game Set

Here’s a look at the $1-million math problem at the heart of computation

A new mathematical proof helps show whether a sequence of numbers is “pseudorandom”

A concept from theoretical physics helped confirm the strange connection between two completely different areas of mathematics

The Oregon Workers’ Compensation Division on Friday announced that it updated the form used to request a change of provider to replace the term “physician assistant” with “physician associate.” The WCD…

The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that an insurance carrier did not have to treat a worker as having a combined condition when none of her impairment was related to her compensable…

The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that an insurer was obligated to modify its notice of acceptance upon receipt of a report that clearly identified a meniscus tear caused by…

The Oregon Court of Appeals overturned a jury’s $10 million verdict in favor of a worker’s widow for his asbestos exposures. Case: Ibarra v. C.H. Murphy/Clark-Ullman Inc., No. 411, 06/20/2024, unpublished. Facts…

Oregon's Workers' Compensation Division has posted amendments to rules governing the assessment that supports the state's Workers' Benefit Fund. The proposed changes are as follows: Amended Rule 003 includes the effective date for OAR 436-070,…

The Oregon Workers’ Compensation Division's rulemaking advisory committee will review medical treatment regulations during a Nov. 5 meeting. The division said a preliminary list of topics that the committee will discuss…

The Bluffs of St. Teresa: hike to an overlook on the Ochlockonee River in this linchpin of the Florida Wildlife Corridor.

At the Ryan-Harley site, archeologists reconstruct the ice age landscape of the Wacissa River, where early Floridians left artifacts.

A federal appellate court revived an injured worker’s suit against a crane contractor, finding there were triable questions as to whether the crane operator allegedly responsible for his injuries was…

The Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that a trial judge miscalculated an insurance provider’s lien against a truck driver’s third-party recovery for an accident that resulted in the loss of…

The Rhode Island Superior Court upheld a denial of accidental disability retirement benefits to a former Department of Motor Vehicles employee. Case: Williams v. Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island, No.

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals overturned the denial of a university employee’s claim for injuries from a collision with a jogger as she walked along a public sidewalk…

The District of Columbia’s highest court overturned a finding that an injured worker was not an employee within the meaning of the Workers’ Compensation Act. Case: Sanchez Lopez v. DOES, No. 22-AA-0765,…

The District of Columbia’s highest court ruled that the Office of Administrative Hearings lacks authority to review penalty calculations by the Office of Risk Management. Luigi Buitrago injured his back in…

The District of Columbia’s high court overturned the denial of a former professional soccer player’s claim for benefits for a right knee injury allegedly caused by a decades-old injury to her…

The Illinois Appellate Court overturned a denial of benefits for the son of a worker who died of a heart attack. Richard Cronk worked for Kimball Hill Homes as a construction manager.

The Illinois Appellate Court ruled that a worker was entitled to permanent total disability benefits for the loss of use of the eyes, plus additional permanent partial disability benefits for…

The Illinois General Assembly sent the governor a recently amended bill including provisions that would increase surcharges by 8% and charge the state attorney general with collecting unpaid penalties for…

A federal appellate court scolded an insured for its frivolous defense during arbitration with its carrier and threatened to sanction the insured for its frivolous challenge to the arbitration award. Case: American…

Chicago’s Office of Inspector General said in its latest audit that contracting with a third-party administrator represented a “major improvement” in running the city’s work comp program compared to the…

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday announced several arbitrator reappointments to the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission. The reappointed arbitrators are: Joseph Amarilio. Crystal Caison. Paul Cellini. Ana Vazquez Diaz. Gerald Granada. Jessica Hegarty. Adam Hinrichs. Jeffrey Huebsch. Nina Mariano. Maureen Pulia. Pritzker has also appointed…

A federal appellate court ruled that a worker’s claim that his employer’s health plan administrator violated Illinois law was preempted by federal law. Case: Carnes v. HMO Louisiana Inc., No. 4:22-cv-04179,…

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday appointed Magda Derisma-Oyewole as an arbitrator for the state Workers’ Compensation Commission. Magda Derisma-Oyewole Derisma-Oyewole has been a practicing attorney since 2015 and focused on…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the denial of a widow’s claim for a truck driver’s fatal heart attack. Case: Dnistranskiy v. Brite Logistics Inc. (WCAB), No. 414 C.D. 2023, 05/10/2024,…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that an injured worker was precluded from trying to challenge the validity of his settlement agreements with his employer. Case: May v. Dana Corp., No.

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld a determination that a worker was required to pay the full amount of her employer’s lien against her third-party recovery, even though the estimate…

Billing agents can pursue payments for workers' comp prescriptions outside of the fee-review process, under a recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision. The high court on Tuesday published a split decision in…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that an employer should have been allowed to set aside its stipulation of facts agreeing to the enlargement of an employee’s claim. Case: VNA of…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania rejected yet another constitutional challenge to the state's new impairment rating evaluation procedure. Case: Perilli v. City of Philadelphia (WCAB), No. 1110 C.D. 2023, 08/01/2024, unpublished. Facts:…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled that a pension offset is not available when the retiree returns to work for a former employer on a part-time basis and suffers an…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania rejected another repetitive challenge to the constitutionality of the state's new impairment rating evaluation process. Case: Miles v. City of Philadelphia (WCAB), No. 1111 C.D. 2023,…

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has granted review of disagreement over the proper prescription drug fee schedule for resolving workers’ compensation disputes. In January, the Commonwealth Court held that Red Book values…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld a finding that a worker sustained a compensable aggravation of his preexisting lumbar spine degenerative disease and lumbar radiculopathy. Case: Chester Water Authority v. Swiggett,…

The Workers Compensation Research Institute is holding a webinar on Oct. 2 to cover key findings from the latest editions of its CompScope Benchmarks and Medical Benchmarks for Pennsylvania, as…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania rejected yet another constitutional challenge to the state's new impairment rating evaluation process. Pamela Barrett Walker worked for the City of Philadelphia. She suffered injuries at…

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ordered a workers’ compensation judge to reconsider an agreement providing for a 20% contingency fee from a worker’s medical and indemnity benefits. Case: Elder v. Crane…

Pennsylvania Rep. Lindsay Powell introduced legislation that would require that the same eligibility standards apply when awarding death benefits to widows and widowers while also exempting spouses of first responders…