Five Things You Need To Know: 2/17, Friday Edition

1) OK Mother Steals More than $36,000 from Daughter's Trust Account (NEWS)

Garvin County, OK resident and mother Sheryl Lynne Clark is on the run after stealing from her daughter's trust account, writes Rhiannon Poolaw of KSWO. (Information in the KSWO article was provided by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.) The 51-year-old "...is accused of making six fraudulent withdrawals from her daughter’s trust account. The trust was a Workers’ Compensation Court award due to the death of her father," according to the article. The account was at $0 when the daughter turned 18. "A warrant for Clark’s arrest has been issued for six counts of forgery in the first degree and one count of embezzlement, all of which are felony crimes," writes Poolaw.

2) Back-To-Back Sessions On Opioids At WCRI Conference (NEWS)

Cambridge, MA (WorkersCompensation.com) - The latest opioid prescribing trends, first-hand accounts of how states are combating the opioid epidemic, and alternatives to opioids will be discussed during two exciting sessions at the Workers Compensation Research Institute’s (WCRI) 33rd Annual Issues & Research Conference, March 2-3, 2017, at the Westin Copley Place Hotel in Boston, MA. "The dangers of prescription drug misuse resulting in death and addiction constitute a top public health problem in the United States and the workers' compensation community," said WCRI CEO John Ruser. "We believe these two sessions that combine research and what is happening on the ground will be of great value to our audience." To read more, click here. 

3) Workers' Comp and the Digital Malaise (FROM BOB'S CLUTTERED DESK)

Peter Rousmaniere wrote an excellent piece that appeared yesterday on this site, addressing the challenge of digitizing our industry. Specifically, he informed us that, while the “American economy is 27 percent digitized”, only 10 percent of the property casualty insurance industry has reached that point. With estimates, according to Rousmaniere, that up to 43 percent of the economy would be digital by 2025, our industry clearly has a long way to go. To read more, click here.

4) New Back Pain Guidelines Shun Medications (NEWS)

People should try non-drug treatment options like massage or stretching for most cases of chronic low back pain before choosing treatment with over-the-counter or prescription drugs, according to new treatment guidelines promulgated by the American College of Physicians. The report in Reuters Health says that if the pain began recently, the guidelines recommend superficial heat, massage, acupuncture or spinal manipulation. If patients wish to take medication, they should use nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen, or skeletal muscle relaxants prescribed by a doctor. Acetaminophen and steroids are not recommended for low back pain, according to the guidelines. To read more, click here. 

5) Daubert, We Hardly Knew Ye, Or do We? (BLOGWIRE)

For those who wonder, the title of this post is adapted from Hamlet's soliloquies regarding "poor Yorick," by William Shakespeare (unless you believe someone else did all that writing). On February 16, 2017, the Supreme Court of Florida rendered its opinion In Re: Amendments to the Florida Evidence Code, Case No. SC16-181. The process leading to this decision began in the Florida Legislature, comprised of representatives and senators elected by the people of Florida. In 2012, those representatives amended the Florida Evidence Code to change the legal standard for admitting expert conclusions into evidence. That bill was signed by the Governor of Florida, and many would, relying upon their civics lessons growing up, conclude that such would thereafter be the law. This was discussed in this blog last May in Daubert Better Explained. But, today, the Daubert standard is not the law in much (frankly most) of Florida. To read more, click here.

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