The Workers’ Compensation System Is Broken And It’s Driving People Into Poverty

There’s a good news & bad news situation for occupational injuries in the United States: Fewer people are getting hurt on the job. But those who do are getting less help.

That’s according to a couple of important new reports on how the system for cleaning up workplace accidents is broken -- both because of the changing circumstances of the people who are getting injured, and the disintegration of programs that are supposed to pay for them.

The first comes from the Department of Labor, which aims to tie the 3 million workplace injuries reported per year -- the number is actually much higher, because many workers fear raising the issue with their employers -- into the ongoing national conversation about inequality. In an overview of research on the topic, the agency finds that low-wage workers have disproportionately high injury rates, and that injuries can slice 15 percent off a person’s earnings over 10 years after the accident.

There are two main components to the financial implications of a workplace injury. The first is the legal status of the people getting injured. A staggering number of workers in the construction industry are misclassified as independent contractors, which means they’re not entitled to workers' compensation payments. Also, more of them are employees of temporary staffing agencies, who tend to be less well-trained and less likely to report their injuries. Businesses will often contract out their most dangerous work, which allows them to keep their own workers' compensation premiums to a minimum.

The second component is the degradation of workers' compensation programs themselves. That issue is addressed by the second report out Wednesday, from ProPublica and NPR, which looks at how employers have lobbied states to get out of paying as much as they used to in workers' compensation, leaving injured workers with inadequate treatment.

Since 2003, the investigation found, 33 states have weakened their workers' compensation regulations, scaling back the procedures that will be covered and the duration for which benefits are offered. In addition, while businesses often push for reforms on the grounds that workers' compensation costs are out of control, data shows that premiums are lower than they’ve been at any point since the early 1990s.

Somebody ends up paying for those injuries, though: taxpayers. When a worker ends up unable to work because of an injury, he or she can be covered by Social Security Disability Insurance, a program that has steadily increased in cost over the past two decades. The rise has many demographic factors behind it, but it looks like the abdication of responsibility by employers may have played a role as well.

The Department of Labor has tried to tackle the misclassification problem -- which contributes to unsafe workplaces, and prevents those who are injured from getting help -- by aggressively pursuing employers abusing the system. But there’s not much they can do about the decline in workers' compensation coverage. That’s something states are going to address themselves -- over employers’ strong objections.

Has your employer been ignoring your workers’ compensation case? Are you having problems getting your paychecks or receiving medical treatment after you’ve been injured in a work-related accident? It might be time to hire a good Mississippi workers’ compensation lawyer to fight for you. If you feel that you have a workers’ compensation claim, contact Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A. today by going to our website at http://www.cglawms.com or calling 601-948-8005. 

Ashley Furniture faces $1.76M in fines after OSHA finds more than 1,000 worker injuries

In a three-and-a-half year period, 4,500 employees at Ashley Furniture Industries Inc., in Arcadia, Wisconsin experienced more than 1,000 work-related injuries. One worker became another terrible statistic when he lost three fingers in July 2014 while operating a dangerous woodworking machine without required safety mechanisms in place. Of the injuries recorded, more than 100 were caused by similar machinery.

After the incident, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted an inspection of the facility. Investigators identified 12 willful, 12 repeated and 14 serious safety violations at Ashley Furniture's Arcadia location, carrying a total of $1,766,000 in penalties. The company has also been placed in the Severe Violator Enforcement Program for failure to address these safety hazards. OSHA previously cited the Arcadia facility in 2014 after an employee suffered a partial finger amputation.

"Ashley Furniture has created a culture that values production and profit over worker safety, and employees are paying the price," said U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez. "Safety and profits are not an ‘either, or' proposition. Successful companies across this nation have both."

Dr. David Michaels, the assistant secretary of labor of occupational safety and health, said, "Ashley Furniture intentionally and willfully disregarded OSHA standards and its own corporate safety manuals to encourage workers to increase productivity and meet deadlines. The company apparently blamed the victims for their own injuries, but there is clear evidence that injuries were caused by the unsafe conditions created by the company. OSHA is committed to making sure that the total disregard Ashley Furniture has shown to safety stops here and now."

Forbes lists Ashley Furniture Industries, a furniture manufacturer with worldwide distribution, as the 117th largest private company in America. With annual revenue of $3.85 billion as of October 2014, the company employs about 20,000 workers at 30 locations nationally. The Arcadia plant is also the largest employer in Wisconsin's rural Trempealeau County, with a population of about 30,000.

The 12 willful and 12 repeated violations were cited after OSHA found that the company did not take the necessary steps to protect its workers from being injured by moving machine parts. It did not prevent machines from unintentionally starting when workers were performing tooling and blade changes on woodworking machinery, and also failed to provide adequate safety mechanisms to prevent contact with those moving parts. These types of violations are among the most frequently cited by OSHA and often result in death or permanent disability.

A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirement, or with plain indifference to employee safety and health. OSHA issues repeated violations if an employer previously was cited for the same or a similar violation of any standard, regulation, rule or order at any other facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

OSHA also cited Ashley Furniture Industries for 14 serious violations, including not training workers on safety procedures and hazards present when servicing machinery. The company also lacked adequate drenching facilities for workers exposed to corrosive materials; it committed three electrical safety violations, and it did not equip some of its machines with readily-accessible emergency stop buttons.

An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm can result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.

Ashley Furniture Industries, Inc., has had 33 federal OSHA inspections and 23 state plan inspections since 1982. In its 33 previous inspections, OSHA issued citations for 96 serious, four repeat and 38 other-than-serious violations. Four inspections were initiated as a result of finger amputations, with Arcadia's 2014 incident being the most recent.

If you or a loved one have experienced any type of injury or death while working for Ashley Furniture or any other employer that has violated OSHA guidelines, contact Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A. by going to our website at http://www.cglawms.com  or calling 601-948-8005.

Xarelto Leads to Bleeding Injury or Death

As a result of the drug makers’ failure to adequately warn about the risks associated with the anticoagulant, financial compensation may be available through a Xarelto lawsuit for individuals who have experienced:

• Internal Bleeding or Gastrointestinal Bleeding
• Brain Hemorrhage
• Hemorrhagic Stroke
• Wrongful Death from Bleeding Problems

To review whether you, a friend or family member may have a Xarelto case against the drug makers, request a free consultation today.

Xarelto Bleeding Problems

Xarelto was introduced in 2011, as a joint product developed by Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals subsidiary and Bayer Health Care.

The anticoagulant has been used by millions of Americans to reduce the risk of stroke, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism and other blood clot injuries. It has been prescribed to individuals with non-valvular atrial fibrillation, following knee and hip replacement surgery and to prevent recurrence of clots.

While all blood thinners carry a risk of internal bleeding, Xarelto appears to be associated with a much greater risk than the manufacturers indicated in warnings provided for consumers and the medical community.

In many cases, Xarelto bleeding problems cannot be controlled by physicians, due to the lack of an approved reversal agent.

Johnson & Johnson and Bayer promoted Xarelto as a superior alternative to warfarin, which has been the go-to anticoagulation therapy for decades.

Although the manufacturers have indicated that the newer drug requires less frequent monitoring than warfarin, increasing evidence suggests that blood monitoring on Xarelto may reduce the bleeding risk. In addition, it appears that information was withheld about the lack of an effective Xarelto reversal agent to stop bleeding problems that may develop.

While doctors are able to reverse the effects of warfarin quickly if bleeding occurs, Xarelto bleeding is often uncontrollable, increasing the risk of serious injury or death.

Xarelto warnings fail to properly address the increased risk for these serious and fatal bleeding problems, despite a substantial number of adverse event reports and other findings suggesting that individuals taking Xarelto have more gastrointestinal bleeds and need more transfusions.

In addition to the inadequate warnings, Xarelto does not appear to provide sufficient benefits to justify the additional risks. Therefore, many lawsuits allege that a Xarelto recall should be issued, claiming that the medication is unreasonably dangerous and defective without an effective reversal agent.

Allegations in Lawsuits over Xarelto

Claims raised in the Xarelto litigation are similar to many of the allegations brought against Boehringer Ingelheim over their related anticoagulant, Pradaxa.

Following the filing of thousands of lawsuits over failure to warn about the risk of bleeding problems with Pradaxa, Boehringer Ingelheim agreed to pay more than $650 million in mid-2014 to resolve the litigation. Similar compensation may be available through Xarelto settlements, as it appears that Bayer and Johnson & Johnson also withheld important safety information about their drug.

Among the allegations raised in Xarelto injury lawsuits being pursued by individuals nationwide, plaintiffs claim Johnson & Johnson and Bayer:

• Failed to provide accurate warnings about the risk of Xarelto bleeds;
• Withheld information about the lack of an effective Xarelto reversal agent;
• Engaged in aggressive marketing that encouraged doctors to use the more expensive and more dangerous drug;
• Sold an unreasonably dangerous and defective drug as it was initially formulated;
• Failed to update warnings, issue a “Dear Doctor” letter or issue a Xarelto recall after it became clear that a large number of users were suffering severe and life-threatening injuries from uncontrollable bleeding.

Rather than withdrawing Xarelto from the market or taking steps to ensure accurate information was provided for consumers and the medical community, Johnson & Johnson and Bayer continued to promote the medication as safe and effective, causing millions of additional Americans to be exposed to a risk of serious injury.

The lawyers at Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A. are reviewing individual bleeding injury claims and potential Xarelto class action lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson and Bayer.

The makers of Xarelto appear to have placed their desire for profits before consumer’s safety, by failing to properly research the risk of bleeds on Xarelto or provide adequate information about the serious and potentially life-threatening health problems that may be caused by use of Xarelto.

For families of individuals who died as a result of these bleeding problems, damages may be available through a Xarelto wrongful death lawsuit.

The drug makers stand to generate substantial profits due to their decision to provide inaccurate and incomplete warnings. Xarelto has been estimated to be the 19th best-selling drug in the world by 2018, with sales expected to reach $3.7 billion per year.

Rather than allowing the drug makers to benefit from this behavior, lawsuits over Xarelto bleeding problems seek to hold the pharmaceutical companies responsible for injuries suffered by former users. In addition, pursuing Xarelto litigation may also prevent similar behavior in the drug industry.

If you or a loved one have been affected by the drug Xarelto, contact Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A. today for a free consultation by going to our website at http://www.cglawms.com  or calling 601-948-8005.

Takata Airbag Class Action Lawsuit

A class action lawsuit has been filed in federal court alleging that Japanese auto supplier Takata Corporation supplied Honda, GM, Toyota, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Subaru, and Mazda car manufacturers with potentially defective airbags that may rupture on activation, spraying shrapnel at drivers and passengers. The lawsuit has been brought against Takata, as well as a host of auto manufacturers whose vehicles may contain the potentially defective airbags.

Nearly 8 million vehicles equipped with the airbags have been recalled in parts of the United States. The number of recalled vehicles may continue to rise as reports of injuries and deaths resulting from exploding airbags continue to surface, some as recently as October. To date, the alleged defect has been linked to four deaths and over 140 injuries in the U.S.

According to the New York Times, the recalled airbags allegedly rupture, causing them to explode when activated. The rupturing has been linked to the propellant inside the airbag’s metal inflator, which is intended to burn slowly, causing the airbag to inflate on impact. In extreme circumstances, the allegedly faulty propellant burns aggressively, causing the inflator to explode and shoot metal fragments through the airbag’s fabric at drivers and passengers.

The class action lawsuit follows an investigation into Takata airbags launched by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration in June. The NHTSA issued a Consumer Advisory on October 22, 2014, urging owners of potentially affected vehicles to “act immediately on recall notices to replace defective Takata airbags.” According to the Advisory, reports of injuries and death allegedly resulting from Takata airbags date back to early 2013.

According to a New York Times September investigative report, Honda learned of the alleged defect in 2004, when an airbag exploded in a Honda Accord in Alabama. The report states that what Honda deemed an “anomaly” soon mushroomed into a series of recalls, the first of which took place in 2008, when Honda recalled approximately 4,200 vehicles potentially containing defective airbags. The NY Times report also states that incident reports continued to be filed with Honda, and alludes to the fact that questions remain as to how these incidents were in turn reported to the NHTSA and other federal auto regulators. To date, Honda has issued nine recalls concerning the Takata airbags in Honda and Acura vehicles. Of the approximately 8 million vehicles recalled, about 5 million are Honda vehicles.

In connection with its ongoing investigation, the NHTSA has requested that Honda, Ford, Chrysler, BMW, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Nissan, and Toyota participate in voluntary field service actions, or regional recalls. According to correspondence sent to the NHTSA from these automakers, though each has agreed to conduct the field service actions, none have stated that a defect exists in any of the recalled vehicles. The regional recalls require automakers to recall certain model year vehicles registered in Florida, areas near the Gulf of Mexico and Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, and Hawaii, as well as Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and Saipan.

According to the NHTSA, these regions are of particular concern to Takata and the automakers, as high humidity and resulting moisture may damage the ammonium nitrate compounds inside the airbags’ inflators, which may cause them to rupture.  The NY Times reports that Takata has been unable to pinpoint the precise cause of the defect, and that the company has put forth several explanations for the explosions, including poor oversight of manufacturing plants in Mexico and Washington state.

According to the NY Times, with the number of recalled vehicles already at 7.8 million and rising, supply of replacement airbags cannot meet consumers’ demand. The October NY Times article goes on to state that carmakers, unwilling to provide loner cars except in extreme circumstances, are finding solutions that U.S. Senators have deemed “troubling, dangerous,” and potentially illegal. Toyota has taken to disabling airbags in the absence of replacements, and they are advising against using the passenger seat in recalled vehicles altogether, the NY Times reports.

Are you concerned your vehicle may be included among the recalled vehicles? If so, the NHTSA suggests visiting the car manufacturer’s website, using your VIN number to check the NHTSA or the other electronic databases, and responding to any communications directly from the manufacturer.

According to the NHTSA, the following vehicles may be a part of the Takata airbag recalls:

BMW: 627,615 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2000 – 2005 3 Series Sedan

2000 – 2006 3 Series Coupe

2000 – 2005 3 Series Sports Wagon

2000 – 2006 3 Series Convertible

2001 – 2006 M3 Coupe

2001 – 2006 M3 Convertible

Chrysler: 371,309 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2003 – 2008 Dodge Ram 1500

2005 – 2008 Dodge Ram 2500

2006 – 2008 Dodge Ram 3500

2006 – 2008 Dodge Ram 4500

2008 – Dodge Ram 5500

2005 – 2008 Dodge Durango

2005 – 2008 Dodge Dakota

2005 – 2008 Chrysler 300

2007 – 2008 Chrysler Aspen

Ford: 58,669 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2004 – Ranger

2005 – 2006 GT

2005 – 2007 Mustang

General Motors: undetermined total number of potentially affected vehicles

2003 – 2005 Pontiac Vibe

2005 – Saab 9-2X

Honda: 5,051,364 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2001 – 2007 Honda Accord)

2001 – 2002 Honda Accord

2001 – 2005 Honda Civic

2002 – 2006 Honda CR-V

2003 – 2011 Honda Element

2002 – 2004 Honda Odyssey

2003 – 2007 Honda Pilot

2006 – Honda Ridgeline

2003 – 2006 Acura MDX

2002 – 2003 Acura TL/CL

2005 – Acura RL

Mazda: 64,872 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2003 – 2007 Mazda6

2006 – 2007 MazdaSpeed6

2004 – 2008 Mazda RX-8

2004 – 2005 MPV

2004 – B-Series Truck

Mitsubishi: 11,985 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2004 – 2005 Lancer

2006 – 2007 Raider

Nissan: 694,626 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2001 – 2003 Nissan Maxima

2001 – 2004 Nissan Pathfinder

2002 – 2004 Nissan Sentra

2001 – 2004 Infiniti I30/I35

2002 – 2003 Infiniti QX4

2003 – 2005 Infiniti FX35/FX45

Subaru: 17,516 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2003 – 2005 Baja

2003 – 2005 Legacy

2003 – 2005 Outback

2004 – 2005 Impreza

Toyota: 877,000 total number of potentially affected vehicles

2002 – 2005 Lexus SC

2002 – 2005 Toyota Corolla

2003 – 2005 Toyota Corolla Matrix

2002 – 2005 Toyota Sequoia

2003 – 2005 Toyota Tundra

For more information concerning the Takata airbag recalls, contact Chhabra & Gibbs today for a free consultation by going to our website at http://www.cglawms.com  or calling 601-948-8005.

Syngenta faces lawsuits over genetically modified corn

Syngenta is facing a wave of potentially costly lawsuits filed by disgruntled U.S. exporters and farmers who claim they racked up major losses because the company’s genetically modified Agrisure Viptera corn can’t be exported to China.

Switzerland-based Syngenta, one of the world’s largest purveyor of seeds, contends the lawsuits are without merit. The company’s global headquarters for its biotechnology research efforts are in Research Triangle Park, and its insect-resistant Viptera corn was discovered here.

Cargill filed the first such suit against Syngenta last month, contending it suffered more than $90 million in damages because its corn shipments have been rejected by Chinese authorities since November.

China hasn’t approved Syngenta’s Viptera corn and has rejected shipments upon detecting “even a trace amount” of it, according to Cargill’s lawsuit. Such “contamination” is inevitable, the lawsuit states, given the prevalence of corn grown from Viptera seed, cross-pollination of corn between farms and the commingling of corn from different farms when transported. “According to one study, the loss of the Chinese market for U.S. grown corn has already cost the U.S. grain industry up to $2.9 billion in damages,” the Cargill lawsuit states.

Since Cargill filed its complaint, more than a dozen suits with similar claims, many of them seeking class action status, have been filed by farmers, said James Pizzirusso of Hausfeld, a Washington law firm that is coordinating lawsuits filed in several states. At least one other exporter, Trans Coastal Supply, also has sued Syngenta.

The lawsuits also contend that domestic corn prices have fallen because of the loss of the Chinese market, which previously was the No. 3 export market for U.S. corn. Syngenta promoted the sale of Viptera seed to farmers “to line its own pockets at the expense of farmers who it knew would be impacted by China’s rejection of this GMO (genetically modified) trait,” Pizzirusso said.

Syngenta generated $14.7 billion in worldwide sales last year, including $3.2 billion in seed sales. It also produces crop protection products such as herbicides and insecticides. Syngenta invested about $200 million to develop Viptera corn, according to one lawsuit.

Syngenta said it was limited in what it could say about pending litigation, but issued a statement stating that the lawsuits have no merit and that the company “strongly upholds the right of growers to have access to approved new technologies that can increase both their productivity and their profitability.”

The company also noted that Viptera was approved for cultivation by U.S. regulators in 2010 and that it was commercialized “in full compliance with regulatory and legal requirements.”

Are you a corn farmer who has been impacted by the rejection of Syngenta’s Agrisure Viptera™ MIR 162 corn or Duracade™ and DDGS shipments to China? Have depressed corn and DDGS prices hurt your bottom line? If so, you may have legal rights to hold Syngenta responsible for depressing the market prices for corn and DDGS by marketing the generically-modified corn seed without having approval for import into China.

Farmers who did not plant Syngenta’s Agrisure Duracade™ or Viptera™ MIR 162 corn but who suffered financial injury due to depressed market prices caused by the rejection of MIR 162 corn shipments by China may have the ability to hold the bio-tech company accountable for those losses.

Attorneys at Chhabra & Gibbs, P.A. are currently investigating the legal rights of farmers  who had the value of their corn and DDGS hurt by Syngenta’s actions.

To learn more about how corn farmers may be able to hold Syngenta accountable for depressing the U.S. corn and DDGS markets, contact us today for a free consultation by going to our website at http://www.cglawms.com  or calling 601-948-8005.

Energy drinks may cause seizures, heart problems in young kids

NBC Nightly News reported, “We’re back now with a new warning about the popular energy drinks and the potential danger they present when they get into the hands of young children.” NBC News medical contributor Natalie Azar, MD, explained, “Researchers looked at records from 55 poison control centers over a three-year period and found more than 5,000 cases of energy drink exposure,” nearly all of which were unintentional. Additionally, more “than 40 percent involved children under the age of six.”

Bloomberg News reports that some of the children who drank energy drinks ended up “suffering seizures and heart problems.” Individuals “of all ages with underlying health conditions should be vigilant about the heavily caffeinated beverages...said” Steven Lipshultz, MD, chairman of pediatrics at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. The study data were presented over the weekend at the American Heart Association conference.

HealthDay reports, “Some energy drinks have up to 400 milligrams (mg) of caffeine per serving, Lipshultz said, compared to about 100 mg or 150 mg in” the average cup of coffee.

If you have experienced complications with any form of energy drinks, contact Chhabra & Gibbs by going to our website at http://www.cglawms.com  or calling 601-948-8005.

Healthcare firm didn’t act on hip implant failures

Bloomberg News reports Johnson & Johnson has been accused of putting profits before safety by ignoring reports that its metal-on-metal version of its Pinnacle hip implants “failed at alarming rates,” according to a lawyer’s comments in closing arguments today in Dallas Federal court. The article notes that J&J’s DePuy unit ignored the implants “had design flaws that prompted them to break down and then misled doctors about the implants’ failure rates to protect sales,” citing Mark Lanier, an attorney “for a Montana woman who sued after complications forced her to have the device removed.” The Pinnacle cases “have been consolidated” before US District Judge Ed Kinkeade “for pretrial information exchanges.”

If you have experienced complications with any type of hip implants, contact Chhabra & Gibbs by going to our website at http://www.cglawms.com  or calling 601-948-8005.