Category: Daily News

New research from The Hartford found that 43% of U.S. workers have delayed routine health care appointments since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The delay in care comes as many also report declines in their mental health (42%), social well-being (41%), financial security (32%) and physical health (29%).

A national omnibus online survey was conducted in the U.S. among approximately 2,000 adults aged 18+, including 1001 full-time and part-time employed respondents. The research was conducted Jan. 5-7, 2022. The margin of error is +/- 3% at a 95% confidence level.

The Hartford, which has been tracking workplace burnout levels among U.S. workers throughout the pandemic, found that the burnout rate has remained high at 61% in January – the same level reported in February and July of 2021. This burnout rate and declining health is manifesting in the way many U.S. workers feel about their jobs. Most respondents (63%) said their overall health/wellness impacts their productivity at work. Thirty percent noted they’re less engaged with their work and 25% said they have trouble concentrating or focusing.

“It is difficult to overcome the fear and fatigue we’re all experiencing amid the COVID-19 pandemic; however, it is important that people get back to prioritizing routine health visits and screenings to stay physically and mentally healthy,” said The Hartford’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Adam Seidner. “Many health conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, may not be noticeable or detected without routine screenings. These types of conditions, when they continue to develop undetected, can lead to more serious health problems.”

According to the January 2022 Future of Benefits Pulse Survey, the top five reasons workers are putting off appointments include:

– – Fear of contracting COVID-19 (47%);
– – Difficulty getting an appointment (29%);
– – The need to cancel appointments due to COVID-19 restrictions/requirements (25%);
– – Fear of other illnesses (24%); and
– – Not a current priority (21%)

“Employers play a key role in helping to remove some of the barriers to health care, which is important in helping people live active and productive lives,” Seidner said. “I encourage employers to continue to offer the flexibility needed to ensure their employees can take key steps to improve their mental and physical health – and avoid the dangers of delayed care.”

According to an analysis of The Hartford’s 2021 short-term disability claims data, the top five injuries and illnesses are:

– – Musculoskeletal injuries, such as neck or back pain
– – COVID-19
– – Digestive disorders, such as hernias or appendicitis
– – Mental health conditions
– – Rheumatologic disorders, such as osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis

Seidner notes that these types of illnesses and injuries can be treated before becoming a disabling condition that prevents people from working or can be managed well following a disability claim by keeping up with routine care.

To help get back on track with appointments, Seidner recommends U.S. workers:

– – Talk to their doctor’s offices about the precautions they are taking in the office to keep patients safe;
– – Stay current on prescription medications and continue to follow the medical guidance related to an existing condition;
– – Consider a telehealth visit, if available;
– – Ask to be placed on a call-back list to be made aware of openings due to cancellations if appointments aren’t readily available; and
– – Take advantage of the online health portals available to communicate directly with your doctor.

To better engage with workers and promote their overall wellness, Seidner recommends employers:

– – Offer benefits and resources that address the overall well-being of their workforce – encompassing physical health, mental health, as well as financial resilience;
– – Communicate more often to employees to remind them of the benefits and services that are available;
– – Lead by example by making your own appointments a priority; and
– – Offer the flexibility employees need to make their appointments a priority.

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., operates through its subsidiaries under the brand name, The Hartford, and is headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut.

The bipartisan Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking was charged with examining aspects of the synthetic opioid threat to the United States, and with developing a consensus on a strategic approach to combating the illegal flow of synthetic opioids into the United States. It just published it’s final report.

The Commission was composed of representatives of seven executive branch departments and agencies, four sitting members of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, and four subject-matter experts from the private sector chosen for their deep experience and expertise on this topic.

Sadly, the report begins by saying the “overdose crisis in the United States claims more lives each year than firearms, suicide, homicide, or motor vehicle crashes.” And goes on to report that some two-thirds of these deaths – about 170 fatalities each day, primarily among those ages 18 to 45 – involved synthetic opioids. The primary driver of the opioid epidemic today is illicit fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times more potent than heroin.

The report found that Mexico is the principal source of this illicit fentanyl and its analogues today. In Mexico, cartels manufacture these poisons in clandestine laboratories with ingredients – precursor chemicals – sourced largely from the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The opioid crisis in the United States first gained public attention in the 2000s. Decades of an oversupply of prescription opioid pain medications beginning in the mid-1990s seeded its origins. Starting around 2014, potent synthetic opioids – mostly, illegally manufactured fentanyl – began their sharp rise in U.S. drug markets. Although they increasingly displaced prescription opioids and heroin in some places, these new drugs rapidly worsened an already-alarming public health problem.

The emergence of counterfeit tablets that contain minute quantities of synthetic opioids is particularly troubling. Drug traffickers in Mexico produce most of these tablets, but illegal pill pressing does occur to a lesser extent in the United States and Canada.

The Commission developed 21 key actions supported by 78 enabling actions that address the most-salient and -actionable challenges that the United States faces today in combating the flow and use of illegally manufactured synthetic opioids.

And as the federal government mulls over these findings and recommendations, recent studies show that San Francisco overdose deaths far exceed COVID deaths. Over the past two years, the city has seen more than 1,360 drug overdose fatalities – more than double the total COVID-19 death toll there. The majority of those deaths were in the Tenderloin and neighboring SOMA district.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced an “emergency declaration” for the area last month saying drug deaths, open-air drug dealing, street chaos and violence there had gotten “totally out of control.” She vowed “tough love” for those who break the law and expanded access to help for those with alcohol and substance use disorders.

However, concurrently with this new report, the Biden administration is being heavily criticized for announcing a $30M grant to fund free crack pipes, in what might appear to some as a mixed message to addicts.

On Tuesday, US Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee wrote to the department of Health and Human Services, expressing “grave concerns” that a $30 million grant program from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) could include subsidizing drug paraphernalia.

“Government-funded drug paraphernalia is a slap in the face to the communities and first responders fighting against drugs flowing into our country from a wide-open southern border,” Ms Blackburn wrote in her letter. “If this is the president’s plan to address drug abuse, our nation is in serious trouble.”

An Oxnard, California, political action committee and a Florida provider of canvassing services went before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to argue that AB5, a California law that qualifies “doorknockers” and signature gatherers as employees rather than independent contractors violates their free speech rights.

Mobilize the Message and Starr Coalition for Moving Oxnard Forward filed a civil complain in federal court in Los Angeles last June. They alleged that Assembly Bill 5 violates the First Amendment right of free speech. AB 5 codifies the so-called “ABC Test” articulated in the 2018 Supreme Court Dynamex decision. The test consists of a three-pronged inquiry that determines whether a worker is classified as an employee or an independent contractor for certain purposes.

The plaintiffs argue that AB 5 favors commercial speech over political speech because it exempts certain commercial workers from being classified as employees, while classifying signature gatherers and doorknockers for political campaigns as employees. The Court denied a Motion for Preliminary Injunction on August 09, 2021.

In denying the bid for a preliminary injunction, Judge Phillips said they were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their lawsuit. The distinction between how the law treats a cosmetics salesperson and a campaign signature gatherers was based on the worker’s occupation..

“Plaintiffs’ argument that the content of what a worker says will determine whether an AB 5 exemption applies in this context lacks merit,” Phillips said. “The more sensible interpretation is that the distinctions hinge on the worker’s industry regardless of speech.”

The judge was also unconvinced by the harm claimed by Mobilized the Message of not being able to operate in California because of the state law, noting the company waited almost two years after the law was passed to sue.

Plaintiffs appealed the denial to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on August 10, 2021. They say in the commentary on their website that “the passage of AB 5, which effectively bars campaigns from hiring canvassers as independent contractors, has forced the plaintiffs to cease their longstanding practice of hiring contractors to collect signatures for ballot petitions and engage California voters in discussion. The costs of hiring canvassers as employees, as required by California’s new law, makes them unaffordable to many campaigns.“

“The state has provided exemptions, however, allowing the hiring of independent contractors for virtually identical work in newspaper delivery and direct sales. The only distinguishing feature between these workers and those hired by the plaintiffs is the content of the speech they are paid to promote. Content-based regulations of speech are presumptively unconstitutional under the First Amendment. Moreover, the government cannot give preferential treatment to commercial speech over political or campaign speech.”

Oral argument was heard on the appeal on February 2nd in San Francisco. According to the report by Courthouse News, U.S. Circuit Judge Lawrence VanDyke, a Donald Trump appointee, expressed some sympathy with Mobilize the Message. Whereas the newspaper industry and the direct sales lobby may have been successful in getting exemptions from the California Legislature for their workers, it was unlikely that advocates of direct democracy would have been able to get such an exemption because, according to the judge, they are the biggest enemy of the Legislature.

“There’s no way they’re going to get an exemption,” VanDyke said.

U.S. Circuit Judge Andrew Hurwitz, a Barack Obama appointee, expressed skepticism that the distinction between commercial door-to-door salespeople and political canvassers under the law had to do with the nature of their speech. “It seems to me that it’s not about the content of your speech,” Hurwitz said to Mobilize the Message’s attorney Alan Gura. “It’s about the way you conduct your business.”

Mobilize the Message said it hires doorknockers and signature gatherers on an independent contractor basis and doesn’t pay hourly wages. Rather, doorknockers get paid for reaching milestones, according to the company. They can set their own hours, breaks and schedules, as long as they work during the times of day when people are most likely at home.

U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen, sitting by designation from the District of Minnesota, rounded out the panel. The judges did not indicate how or when they would rule.

A former Rancho Mirage resident pleaded guilty to federal charges related to a scheme that fraudulently billed insurance companies tens of millions of dollars for cosmetic surgeries by falsely claiming the procedures were “medically necessary.”

Linda Morrow, 69, who has been in federal custody since July 2019, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, admitting that she helped her husband run the fraudulent billing scheme out of The Morrow Institute (TMI) in Rancho Mirage.

Morrow also pleaded guilty to one count of contempt of court for fleeing the United States in 2017 after a federal grand jury indicted her for the health care fraud scheme. Morrow, and her husband, fled to Israel, which deported her in 2019 after U.S. authorities tracked her down and Israeli authorities determined she had entered that nation on a fraudulent Mexican passport.

Morrow also admitted in court that she fled the United States to avoid prosecution and failed to appear in court as ordered. In addition to helping move $4 million from domestic bank accounts to accounts in Israel, Morrow used a fraudulent Mexican passport to enter Israel and a fraudulent Guatemalan passport while living there. Morrow also admitted that while she was living as a fugitive, she applied for Israeli citizenship using a fraudulent identity.

Morrow pleaded guilty to the two felony offenses before United States District Judge Josephine L. Staton, who scheduled a sentencing hearing for July 1. At that time, Morrow will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

Morrow’s husband, 77-year-old Dr. David M. Morrow, was extradited by Israel two years ago and is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence. David Morrow pleaded guilty in 2016 and was free on bond awaiting sentencing when the couple fled. Judge Staton imposed the 20-year sentence while the Morrows were living as fugitives, finding that the intended loss from the scheme was more than $44 million.

Linda Morrow, who was the “executive director” of TMI in Rancho Mirage, admitted in court that she participated in a scheme to defraud health insurance companies by submitting bills for procedures performed at the Morrow Medical Surgery Center that were billed as “medically necessary” – but in fact were cosmetic procedures such as “tummy tucks,” “nose jobs,” breast augmentations and vaginal rejuvenations. Morrow admitted that the scheme attempted to bilk insurance companies out of between $25 million and $65 million.

The victim insurance companies included Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California and Cigna Health Insurance. The scheme also defrauded Staples, Inc. and a self-insured group of public entities that included school districts.

To pursue payment for some of the fraudulent surgeries when they were not paid, TMI filed claims of $10,931,237 against the Desert Sands Unified School District; $4,199,862 against the Palm Springs Unified School District; $1,341,519 against the City of Palm Springs; and $256,782 against the California Highway Patrol, according to court documents.

In April 2011, shortly after the FBI and California Department of Insurance executed a search warrant in the investigation, Morrow went to a former employee’s house to confront her on whether she had cooperated with law enforcement, according to the plea agreement.

To defraud the insurance companies into believing that the patients had undergone medically necessary procedures, the Morrows convinced patients to sign “testimonial” letters or declarations that had false statements, according to court documents. In her plea agreement, Morrow admitted that she coached employee patients to draft falsified testimonial letters and declarations.

The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation and the California Department of Insurance conducted the investigation into the Morrows and TMI. The FBI’s Legal Attachés in Jerusalem, Mexico City, and Guatemala; the Israeli National Police; the United States Marshals Service; the United States Border Patrol’s Northern Border Coordination Center; and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs provided considerable assistance in tracking down and capturing the Morrows.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that over 90% of eligible California cities and counties have signed on to a historic $26 billion settlement with the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors – Cardinal, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen – and Johnson & Johnson over the companies’ role in creating and fueling the nationwide opioid crisis.

Attorney General Bonta, along with the attorneys general of North Carolina, Tennessee, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, led negotiations of the up to $26 billion settlement.

In California, over 400 cities and counties – representing 97% of the state’s population – have signed on to the settlement.

When finalized, the settlement will resolve the claims of both states and local governments across the country, including the nearly 4,000 that have filed lawsuits in federal and state courts. The settlement also requires significant industry changes that will help prevent this type of crisis from ever happening again.

The settlement comes as a result of investigations by state attorneys general into whether the three distributors fulfilled their legal duty to refuse to ship opioids to pharmacies that submitted suspicious drug orders and whether Johnson & Johnson misled patients and doctors about the addictive nature of opioid drugs.

Cardinal, McKesson, AmerisourceBergen, and Johnson & Johnson will have until February 25, 2022, to decide whether to move forward with the settlement. If all parties move forward, the first payments will be made by the distributors in April, and Johnson & Johnson in July.

In addition to the settlement, Attorney General Bonta continues to fight to hold Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family accountable for their contribution to the ongoing opioid crisis. In December, a district court reversed a New York bankruptcy court’s confirmation of the company’s bankruptcy reorganization plan.

Today’s deal also comes on the heels of a previously announced $573 million opioid settlement with McKinsey & Company, which will bring over $59 million to California for opioid abatement.

And Reuters reports that Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and three of the nation’s largest drug wholesalers and distributors have agreed to pay $589 million in settlement after hundreds of native tribes accused the companies of fueling the opioid crisis in their communities.

The three pharmaceutical distributors – Cardinal Health, AmerisourceBergen Corp., and McKesson Corp.- will pay more than $439 million in settlement over seven years. The Janssen-owned Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $150 million over two years.

This follows a 2019 lawsuit in which the drug distributors agreed to pay $75 million to resolve similar claims made by Cherokee Nation, one of the largest Cherokee tribes recognized by the federal government.

A 2016 report released by the National Congress of American Indians found that American Indians suffered the highest rate (8.4 overdose deaths per 100,000 people) of opioid overdoses, followed by whites (7.9 overdose deaths per 100,000 people).

All 574 federally recognized tribes will be able to receive money from the settlements even if they had not filed the lawsuits, according to Tara Sutton, an attorney for the tribes, in a Feb. 1 statement to The Wall Street Journal.