BP Will Be Paying for Many Years for Their Most Recent Accident

BP has agreed to pay a record $20 billion to resolve all federal and state claims against the company over its role in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Under the terms of the finalized deal announced by the Justice Department on Monday, BP won’t have to pay all the money at once. Softening the hit to its cash flow, the company is able to spread out payments over a 15-year period. The last installments are due in 2031, more than 21 years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which killed 11 crew members and caused the largest oil spill in U.S. waters.

The two biggest pieces of the settlement* are the $5.5 billion in Clean Water Act penalties and the $7.1 billion that BP agreed to pay to the U.S. and Gulf Coast states to cover long-term environmental damages.

Here are the payment schedules for both categories, according to the consent decree filed in federal court in New Orleans on Monday:

Department of Justice

Department of Justice

 

Attorney General Loretta Lynch called the deal “a strong and fitting response to the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.” BP officials, as WSJ’s Devlin Barrett notes, have said previously the agreement provides the company, and the Gulf region, “a path to closure,” resolving the largest legal exposure and providing more certainty in terms of costs and payments.

 

* Total settlement figure also includes $1 billion that BP previously committed for early restoration projects; up to $700 million for any later-discovered injuries or losses or to pay for adjustments to restoration projects; $4.9 billion to five Gulf States, plus another $1 billion to localities, to settle economic-damage claims; and $600 million to settle other claims, including reimbursement for response and removal costs.

False Claims Act Enforced With Back Surgeons- Investors

Federal probe of doc-owned   distributorship yields False Claims suit



The Justice Department is moving forward with False Claims Act allegations against a company that sells spine implants to hospitals, alleging that the company and its owners made improper payments to surgeons to use the company's medical devices in the procedures they performed.

A complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California against Reliance Medical Systems, a marketer and distributor of spine-implant devices; the three owners of Reliance Medical; and Dr. Aria Sabit, a neurosurgeon who invested in Reliance Medical.

Physician-owned distributors and distributorships, or PODs, sell and distribute medical implants.Hospitals buy the devices and the surgeons who perform procedures using the implants are often owners or investors in the PODs.

 

Over the last few years, these kinds of companies have come under scrutiny. That led the HHS' Office of the Inspector General to last year issue a special fraud alert calling PODs “inherently suspect” under the anti-kickback statute and a report that found hospitals that purchased implants from PODs reported increases in volumes of spinal surgeries.

The lawsuit is considered significant because "it appears to be the first time any of the government's POD investigations have caused the government to file its own (False Claims Act) lawsuit based on the theory" that a physician's return on the investment is a kickback.

The most common work injuries are neck and back injuries. Others are repetitive strain injuries, head injuries, lifting injuries, brain injuries, spinal damage, workers suffer from: fall related injuries, broken bones and fractures, burns as well as injuries caused by exposure to chemicals or toxic substances. Sometimes injuries are sudden other times they occur gradually over time as a result of their day to day work activities. These gradual traumas also called “Gillette” injuries can also be covered by Minnesota’s workers’ compensation laws.
Most employers in Minnesota are required to have Workers’ Compensation insurance in place to protect their employees. However, even if your employer doesn't have Workers’ Compensation insurance, benefits may still be available to you through the Minnesota Special Compensation Fund.  These benefits include wage loss benefits, permanent partial disability benefits, vocational rehabilitation, retraining benefits, and death and dependency benefits. It is very important to have an experienced attorney on your side; someone who understands how all of these benefits work together—an attorney who will maximize what you get.

 

Who Overseas Workplace Injury Reports?

That would be the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, your go-to place for labor and employment law enforcement.  The department aims to ensure healthy and safe workplaces for Minnesota workers. It also oversees the state workers’ compensation program, through the Workers’ Compensation Division.

…and what can it do for you?

If you’re at the very beginning of the workers’ compensation claim process, you can get an overview of how the process works in Minnesota (http://www.doli.state.mn.us/WC/ClaimProcess.asp).  The DOLI website has a form repository, including a claim petition to be used in cases involving a deceased employee:  http://www.doli.state.mn.us/WC/PDF/cp03.pdf.  Note:  we recommend that you talk to your lawyer before filling in this petition, not after. I recommend contacting www.vanderlindelaw.com immediately.

If your claim for benefits is disputed but you want an alternative to trial, the DOLI can provide mediation services.  These services are both free and voluntary, so they can be a good option if you think there’s a chance of reaching an agreement with your employer. Again I recommend you have a trusted, knowledgeable attorney like Jim Vander Linden on your side 612-339-6841.

Following a claim for benefits, you may want information on vocational rehabilitation services to allow you to return to work:  http://www.doli.state.mn.us/WC/FaqVocRehab.asp.  These services are offered at all locations of the department, which are St. Paul, Duluth, Bemidji, Fergus Falls, Hibbing, Mankato, St. Cloud, and Rochester.

Due to its enforcement responsibilities, the department is the place to go if you have trouble with late payment checks for your workers’ compensation benefits.  Save documentation showing the late payments and send a request for review to the department at:
Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry
Workers’ Compensation Division
Compliance, Records and Training
443 Lafayette Road N.
St. Paul, MN  55155

If penalties are assessed by the department for late payments, those penalties are payable to you.
Finally, like any good website, the DOLI’s site provides a helpful FAQ:  http://www.doli.state.mn.us/WC/Faqs.asp.  The topics address what benefits you might be entitled to (wage-loss benefits, compensation for loss of use of a part of the body, medical benefits, vocational rehabilitation and retraining), whether you can be treated for a work-related injury by your own physician (yes, generally, with some exceptions), and whether you have to attend an independent medical examination (yes!).

Again, this entire process can be overwhelming and we want you to  be able to focus on getting better. In order receive the help you deserve please contact www.vanderlindenlaw.com to make sure you are collecting on all benefits that are due to you!

Injured At Work? Let Jim Vander Linden Help Call Today 612-339-6841!! How Common Is An Injury At Work?

Seven occupations had rates greater than 375 cases per 10,000 full-time workers: transit and intercity

bus drivers; police and sheriff’s patrol officers; correctional officers and jailers; firefighters; nursing assistants; laborers and freight, stock and material movers; and emergency medical technicians and paramedics. transit and intercity bus drivers; police and sheriff’s patrol officers; correctional officers and jailers; and firefighters. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers had the highest number of days-away-from-work cases in 2012 with 63,690 cases (primarily in private industry). 

Private sector incidence rate for days-away-from-work cases decreased to 102 per 10,000 full-time

workers in 2012 from 105 in 2011. Despite the overall decrease, four occupational groups had increases in their incidence rates in 2012 including: computer and mathematical occupations; community and social service occupations; personal care and service occupations; and transportation and material moving occupations. The number of cases for these four broad occupation groups also increased. Transportation and material moving occupations had the highest incidence rate (258, up from 251 in 2011) of all occupation groups.

Transit and intercity bus drivers had an incidence rate of 852 cases per 10,000 full-time workers for

all ownerships. The majority of injuries and illnesses to bus drivers occurred in local government

with a rate of 1,026—statistically unchanged from the previous year. For private sector bus drivers, the incidence rate increased to 417 from 342 in 2011. Three other occupations with high rates and at least 0.1 percent of full-time equivalent employment occurred primarily in local government or state government: police and sheriff’s patrol officers; correctional officers; and fire fighters.

• Musculoskeletal disorder cases (388,060) accounted for 34 percent of all injury and illness

cases in 2012. Both the incidence rate and case count remained unchanged from the

previous year; however the median days away from work increased by 1 day to a median of 12 days.

Laborer and freight, stock, and material movers had the highest number of MSD cases and an

incidence rate of 164 per 10,000 full-time workers—up from 140 in 2011.

Occupation
 

Seven occupations had rates greater than 375 cases per 10,000 full-time workers: transit and intercity

bus drivers; police and sheriff’s patrol officers; correctional officers and jailers; firefighters; nursing

assistants; laborers and freight, stock and material movers; and emergency medical technicians and

paramedics. Injuries and illnesses to four of the seven occupations occurred primarily to state and local government workers: transit and intercity bus drivers; police and sheriff’s patrol officers; correctional officers and jailers; and firefighters. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers had the highest number of days-away-from-work cases in 2012 with 63,690 cases (primarily in private industry) and an incidence rate of 391 (up from 367 in 2011).Only occupations that had at least 0.1 percent of full time employment are included in the list of high rate occupations.

For all occupations, the incidence rate for the public sector was over 71 percent higher than in the

private sector. The public sector rates were more than two times greater than private sector rates for

laborers, freight, and material movers, janitors and cleaners, and landscaping and grounds keeping. 

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand 63,690 10 Overexertion and bodily reaction (44%),

Contact with object or equipment (33%)
Nursing assistants 44,100 6 Overexertion and bodily reaction (55%),

Falls, slips, trips (18%)

Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers 41,840 18 Overexertion and bodily reaction (36%),

Falls, slips, trips (29%)

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and

housekeepers 38,610 11 Overexertion and bodily reaction (41%),

Falls, slips, trips (30%)

Police and sheriff's patrol officers 32,190

Violence and other injuries by persons or

animals (27%), Transportation incidents

(20%), Overexertion and bodily reaction

(20%), Falls, slips, trips (20%)