The workers’ compensation system doesn’t always work as intended. The new Workers’ Comp Hub has information for injured workers and for those advocating to improve the system.
Forty years ago today, the Clean Water Act was enacted. Since then, US waterways have gotten cleaner – but some people seem to be forgetting why we need regulation like this in the first place.
Public Health Science
Public Health Classic: Developing protocols for the treatment of acute respiratory infections in children
In the 1970s and early 1980s, acute respiratory infections were a major cause of mortality for young children in developing countries. A study by Frank Shann and colleagues led to protocols that have since become the basis of controlling and treating these infections in children.
Injury Control & Violence
Explosion in January at Oklahoma oil rig hospitalized four workers, employer pays $6,700 OSHA penalty
Several workers were injured when a January explosion rocked El Dorado Drilling’s Logan Rig #7 in Logan County, Oklahoma. The company said “these things happen,” but accident investigators know otherwise.
October 15th is Global Handwashing Day, which aims to increase awareness about the effectiveness of soap-and-water handwashing for disease prevention.
Researchers studying workers’ compensation claims have found that almost one in 12 injured workers who begin using opioids were still using the prescription drugs three to six months later. It’s a trend that, not surprisingly, can lead to addiction, increased disability and more work loss – but few doctors are acting to prevent it.
The latest Health Wonk Review features posts on healthcare issues in the presidential debates, efforts to contain US healthcare spending, and other healthcare topics.
Cancer
Hotel workers at Hyatt struggle for justice, Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization supports workers’ cause
Canceling a hotel contract for a major conference is no small feat, but the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization did just that to support hotel workers call for a global boycott of Hyatt Hotels.
Between 1940 and 1971, a synthetic form of estrogen called diethylstilbestrol (DES) was prescribed to pregnant women to prevent miscarriage and premature labor. This practice changed abruptly, though, after the New England Journal of Medicine published a dramatic new finding from a study of young women diagnosed with a rare cancer in two Boston hospitals.
The Oregonian reports on children doing farm labor, and the Obama administration’s response to their FOIA request regarding an abandoned proposal to limit dangerous agricultural work by children; Foxconn workers on an iPhone 5 production line went on strike for several hours over working conditions; and four Unicef vaccine workers were kidnapped and released in South Waziristan.