CA - CWCI: Meloxicam Emerges as Cost Driver
11/05/2026 | 0
The California Workers' Compensation Institute on Wednesday reported that meloxicam has become the largest source of anti-inflammatory drug spending, with its share of payments jumping from less than 2% in 2020 to 30.8% last year, largely because of a small number of high-cost formulations.
CWCI also reports that the committee that advised the Division of Workers' Compensation on changes to the prescription drug formulary in 2020 and 2021 considered requiring prospective utilization review for the high-cost, novel formulations of the drug that appear to be driving the recent
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The Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld a jury’s verdict finding a contractor liable for a catastrophic workplace injury suffered by a subcontractor’s employee struck by a train.
Case: Hernandez v. Independence Construction Corp., No. 1911 EDA 2023, 10/28/2026, published.
Facts: Jesse Hernandez worked for Minority Services Inc., a subcontractor of Independence Construction Corp. Both companies were owned by Steven Hare.
ICC had long-standing contracts with the South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority to perform janitorial services and maintenance work. ICC also co
The Kansas Court of Appeals ruled that the two-year period for an employer to invoke a statutory presumption that an injured worker no longer needs medical care begins to run on the date of the award of future medical benefits.
Case: Suarez-Cirino v. Menard Inc., No. 128,618, 10/23/2026, published.
Facts: Betzaida Suarez-Cirino worked for Menard Inc. She injured her left shoulder at work in February 2014.
Suarez-Cirino underwent conservative treatment, then surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff.
Suarez-Cirino returned to work on light duty. She was assigned to an inventory position, which
A New York appellate court ruled that a Labor Law defendant was entitled to partial summary judgment dismissing some of the cross-claims against it.
Case: Torres v. Tinton Realty Group LLC, No. 31559/20, 10/22/2026, published.
Facts: Julio A. Altamirano Torres fell while using stilts to apply compound to the walls and ceiling of a bathroom on the sixth floor of a building under construction.
According to Torres, his stilts slipped on plastic floor covering, causing him to fall backward and sustain multiple injuries.
The accident occurred at a property owned by Tinton Realty Group LLC.
Workers’ compensation subrogation is one of the few areas of insurance recovery in which a carrier can have a perfectly valid statutory right to reimbursement and still walk away empty-handed.
In many states, the law imposes procedural requirements that can be just as important as the underlying right to recover. A missed deadline, an improperly perfected lien, an unanticipated settlement, an overlooked assignment or a failure to intervene can turn a substantial reimbursement opportunity into an expensive lesson. A recently published California appellate decision illustrates ju
A New York appellate court ruled that a worker who fell off a makeshift scaffold was not entitled to summary judgment on his Labor Law claim for injuries.
Case: Rajpaulsingh v. Hidden Pond at Old Westbury LLC, No. 2022-00669, 10/28/2026, published.
Facts: Mahadaye Rajpaulsingh was a welder for Roman Iron Works Inc. In January 2016, he was working on a residential development project.
A Roman supervisor directed Rajpaulsingh to build a makeshift scaffold using wooden planks in order to carry a column between concrete structures.
Rajpaulsingh was carrying the column across the make
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation has announced $29 million in funding to further the development of personal work safety equipment and technology.
The periodic Workforce Safety Innovation Grant supports research and development of industrial safety innovations, guided by data to improve outcomes for Ohio workers.
The funding round, intended to cover the period from July 1, 2027, to June 30, 2029, includes higher education institutions and independent research groups in the Buckeye State. Awards range from $150,000 to $2 million, depending on the pr
The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California Classification and Rating Committee will discuss possible changes to the physical audit threshold and payroll limitations during a Nov. 17 meeting.
Currently, policies that generate a final premium above $10,500 are subject to a physical audit. WCIRB staff recommends increasing the threshold to $12,000.
The last threshold adjustment was effective on Jan. 1, 2020.
Committee members will also discuss revising payroll limitations to account for inflation.
The California Workers’ Compensation Uniform Statistical Report
Medicaid disenrollment was associated with higher medical payments in workers' compensation claims during the period when enrollees were losing coverage, the Workers Compensation Research Institute said in a new study.
The findings could offer insight into the potential effects of H.R. 1, but the extent to which those results translate to the new law remains uncertain, WCRI said.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government encouraged states to maintain continuous coverage for Medicaid enrollees, resulting in an increase in working-age adults covered by the program. When the pand
A New York appellate court ruled that the defendants in a Labor Law action should not have been granted summary judgment dismissing all the claims against them.
Case: DaSilva v. Delshah-OTL-Start 22 Chapel Property Owner LLC, No. 2024-11300, 10/21/2026, published.
Facts: Evando Magalhaes DaSilva worked for Manhattan Concrete Inc. In July 2020, DaSilva and his co-workers were building walls, passing plywood forms from the sixth floor to DaSilva on the seventh floor.
DaSilva allegedly was injured while carrying plywood through an open area on the seventh floor when his left foot twisted
The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania upheld the denial of a demolition worker’s claim for benefits for a heart attack.
Case: Torres v. The Giant Co. LLC (WCAB), No. 958 C.D. 2025, 10/26/2026, unpublished.
Facts: Angel Torres worked for Power Component Systems Inc. In May 2023, he was part of a small demolition crew removing flooring and drywall at a construction site.
According to Power employee David Sibbach, drywall removal is a medium-duty task, which is more physically demanding than light-duty work such as painting or fixing carts, but less demanding than heavy-duty work s
A New York appellate court ruled that a plumber’s assistant should have been granted summary judgment on his Labor Law claim for his injuries from falling over a ground-level barrier into a below-ground entranceway.
Case: Nunez v. The Hispanic Society of America, Nos. 161031/18 595424/19 595337/20 595360/20 595622/20 595626/20, 10/16/2026, published.
Facts: Hector Nunez suffered injuries while working as a plumber’s assistant at a construction site when he fell over a barrier from the sidewalk level into a below-ground entranceway while attempting to retrieve a pipe at the
The North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled that a worker’s claim for further compensation was properly denied as untimely.
Case: Brown v. North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, No. COA25-869, 10/21/2026, published.
Facts: Curtis Brown worked as a high school teacher for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. He injured his back in December 2009 while attempting to break up a fight.
The department began paying medical compensation to Brown in February 2010.
In September 2013, the department submitted an admission of Brown’s right to permanent partial disab
The Supreme Court of Tennessee’s Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel upheld the denial of a worker’s request for extraordinary benefits.
Case: Burkes v. Sysco Knoxville LLC, No. E2025-02007-SC-R3-WC, 10/22/2026, published.
Facts: Jerry Burkes worked for Sysco Knoxville LLC. He slipped and fell while working, injuring his left knee. Sysco accepted liability for the injury and provided medical care by Dr. Michal McCollum, who diagnosed partial medial and lateral meniscus tears and osteoarthritis. He recommended surgery.
Following surgery, McCollum placed Burkes
Twenty-eight congressional Democrats are protesting planned rollbacks of regulations regarding respirator masks as proposed by the Trump administration.
In a letter addressed to David Keeling, an assistant secretary within the Department of Labor, the lawmakers said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is moving quickly and without sound evidence to weaken requirements involving respirators for those who work with hazardous substances such as lead, asbestos, dust, formaldehyde and inorganic arsenic, among other chemicals.
Specifically, the federal g
The Arkansas Court of Appeals affirmed a Workers' Compensation Commission decision awarding a fee to an injured worker's attorney, finding that the employer had controverted the compensability of an employee's back injury.
Though the employer voluntarily paid temporary total disability benefits when the employee had surgery, the appellate court explained that Gregory Roberson still had to litigate compensability. A maxim in Arkansas workers' compensation law is that when the commission finds a case has been controverted in whole or in part, it shall order the employer or