NATL. - Pennsylvania, Hawaii Lawmakers Target Compound Drug Prices
03/17/2026 | 0
Lawmakers in Pennsylvania and Hawaii are proposing legislation that would align state standards with federal laws to crack down on inflated prices for compound drugs in their workers' compensation systems.
Pennsylvania Senate Bill 1215, which was introduced on Friday, and Hawaii House Bill 2164, which was passed to the Senate on March 10, both include references to U.S. Code Section 353.
The Hawaii bill would define a compound prescription drug to mean a medication compounded by a licensed pharmacist in a state-licensed pharmacy for an individual patient and based on a valid prescription...
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A Texas appellate court ruled that an insurance carrier was not entitled to a declaratory judgment that it did not owe coverage under its commercial general liability policy for a worker’s alleged injuries.
Case: Admiral Insurance Co. v. Lippert Components Inc., No. 10-23-00250-CV, 03/12/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Admiral Insurance Co. issued a commercial general liability insurance policy to Lippert Components Inc., covering Lippert and its subsidiaries — Kinro Inc., Kinro Texas Inc., LCI Industries and Drew Industries Inc.
Quinton Williams filed a pers...
A Texas appellate court upheld the dismissal of a worker’s suit against his former attorney, employer and his employer’s insurance carrier for alleged misconduct related to the handling of his workers’ compensation action.
Case: Guillen v. National American Insurance Co., No. 03-25-00372-CV, 03/11/2026, published.
Facts: Macedonio Sanchez Guillen worked for Cash Construction Co. He suffered severe injuries at work in October 2001.
As a result, Guillen has a prosthetic hip. According to Guillen, the prosthetic must be replaced every five years to avoid complications from se...
A New York appellate court overturned a decision by the Workers’ Compensation Board that denied a worker’s request to reopen her claim.
Case: Matter of Siddon v. Advance Energy Technologies, No. CV-24-1300, 02/19/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: Kimberly Siddon worked for Advance Energy Technologies. She injured her knee at work in May 2006 and underwent surgery.
Siddon established a workers' compensation claim in April 2008, and a workers’ compensation law judge found that she had sustained a 12% schedule loss of use of her left leg.
After Siddon u...
The infamous QME template legislation, Assembly Bill 1293, has been signed into law but will not take effect immediately.
In fact, the thus far unseen templates and their accompanying regulations have until Jan. 1, 2027, to be effectuated. Before then, the Division of Workers' Compensation will design the proposed QME template forms and request public comments.
The stated goal of this legislation is to reduce litigation by standardizing how QME reports are requested and written. However, there are specific legal limitations built into the text (Labor Code § 4062.4) that aff...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld a finding that a worker was entitled to benefits for his injuries from a trip-and-fall accident, as they were not the result of a self-inflicted injury.
Case: Airgas Mid America v. Lowe, No. 25-ICA-354, 02/27/2026, published.
Facts: Joshua Lowe worked for Airgas Mid America as a route driver. He filed a workers’ compensation claim, asserting he had suffered injuries to his head and back when he tripped on a broken walkway.
Lowe testified that he was loading his work truck at the Airgas location in Davisville when he realized h...
The Connecticut Division of Criminal Justice announced that the owner of a janitorial company was arrested and charged with failing to carry workers' compensation insurance for his employees.
Edgar Villacis Pinto, 54, owner of VIP Janitorial Services Inc., was charged with one count of noncompliance with insurance requirements.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit, the state opened an investigation based on complaints that Pinto operated without mandatory workers' compensation coverage between November 2024 and May 2025.
He was arrested on March 3 and released on a $10,000...
CopperPoint Insurance Cos. named Mark Woods senior vice president and head of product.
In the new role, Woods will oversee the integration of underwriting systems and lead the carrier's geographic expansion and data analytics initiatives. He will report to John Carey, executive vice president and chief underwriting officer.
Woods brings more than 18 years of insurance experience to the position. Most recently, he served as vice president of portfolio solutions at Travelers.
He earned a bachelor's degree from Providence College and an MBA from the University of Connecticut.
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The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that employers cannot limit maintenance medical benefits to specific treatments in a final admission of liability.
At the same time, the court held that Section 8-42-107(8)(f), which addresses information that employers can include in a final admission of liability, does not prohibit referring to a physician's report recommending specific medical treatment.
As a result, the court said the Industrial Claim Appeals Panel did not err in affirming an administrative law judge's decision denying Fredy Barba's request for penalties.
Barba injured his...
BATON ROUGE, La. (March 11, 2026) The Retailers Casualty Insurance Company board of directors has declared a $1 million distribution payable for policies with effective dates in 2024, and distributions to qualifying policyholders have been issued.
Each distribution is in proportion to qualifying policyholder premium and loss ratio-the better their record, the higher ...
The Oregon Court of Appeals ruled that a worker was not entitled to a penalty for the premature closure of his claim for an ankle injury.
Case: Calvi v. Gallagher Bassett Services Inc., No 115, 02/19/2026, published.
Facts and procedural history: John Calvi worked for Progressive Roofing. He injured his ankle at work and filed a workers’ compensation claim.
The Workers’ Compensation Board established a claim for a disabling right ankle sprain and right talar chondral lesion. The claim was closed on May 25, 2023.
That same day, Calvi filed a request for reconsideration.
The App...
A New York appellate court upheld a finding that an injured worker knowingly made false statements about his work activities after retiring, but his conduct was not so egregious as to warrant the forfeiture of future wage replacement benefits.
Case: Matter of Belcher v. Dominican Village Inc., No. CV-24-1475, 02/19/2026, published.
Facts: Albert Belcher worked for Dominican Village Inc. He injured his back at work in June 2022.
Belcher continued to work after his injury, with restrictions and accommodations.
In November 2022, after Dominican denied Belcher’s request for an additional...
A New York appellate court ruled that the defendant in a Labor Law action was entitled to summary judgment dismissing the claims by a worker allegedly struck by a cart while attempting to lift it overhead.
Case: Williams v. City of New York, No. 2024-07160, 02/18/2026, published.
Facts: Antonio Williams worked for Venture Solar. The New York City Housing Authority hired Venture to install solar panels on the rooftops of structures at the Queensbridge Housing Project in Queens.
According to Williams, he was instructed to move a "moon cart" from one rooftop to an adjacent rooftop th...
West Virginia’s Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld an award of attorney fees to a worker, finding that an administrator’s failure to include a back strain as a compensable component of the claim was unreasonable.
Case: Stonerise Healthcare v. Dewitt, No. 25-ICA-306, 02/27/2026, published.
Facts: Kimberly Dewitt worked for Stonerise Healthcare. She saw Dr. Lindsay Weglinski in October 2023 with complaints of pain in her knee and back.
Dewitt reported that she had tripped at work on an uneven floor and landed on her left knee.
Weglinski diagnosed a contusion of the left kn...
TX - Judge Vacates OSHA Citation in Railcar Injury Case
A federal administrative law judge has vacated an Occupational Safety and Health Administration citation issued to a cold-storage warehouse operator after a railcar unloading accident that left a worker paralyzed.
The case stemmed from a March 30, 2023, incident at a La Porte, Texas, facility in which workers were unloading pallets of frozen chicken feet from a refrigerated railcar when stacked boxes weighing 40 to 50 pounds each collapsed onto them. One employee was knocked unconscious, and another suffered catastrophic injuries and was left paralyzed, according to Secretary of Lab...
A forthcoming federal audit will examine how well the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is addressing workplace violence.
According to the recently released U.S. Department of Labor Office of Inspector General’s fiscal year 2026 audit work plan, the review will assess OSHA’s actions to prevent and respond to workplace violence, which the agency defines as any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation or other disruptive behavior occurring at a worksite.
Workplace violence remains a significant occupational safety concern, the inspector general&rsquo...
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman launched an advertising campaign on county buses to warn the public that lying or misrepresenting facts to obtain workers’ compensation benefits is a felony.
“Knowingly making a false statement to collect workers’ compensation benefits is textbook fraud, and we are filing charges against anyone who engages in it — employees, medical providers, attorneys or any other participants in the schemes,” Hochman said in a statement. “If you choose to falsify a claim, exaggerate an injury or create false med...
