Document VKbz6eNYzg7Lkk2XV85xNNBx8

FILE NAME: Pennsylvania (PA) DATE: 1935-1936 DOC#: PA004 DOCUMENT DESCRIPTION: PA G overnm ent Regulations - Occupational Disease Compensation Act P ili B S >`;,i *: . . N M >. . IO T Im m 1935-1936 iCT--CONTINUED) nt or with the Board or a Referee Department under its seal, or cerf the Secretary of the Board under shall be prima fade evidence of yer, the Board may, at any time al receipt, upon petition, if it be nployee was unable to work withid a condition, resulting from the ion agreement but not covered by g disability when the receipt was made until a final receipt has been a petition to terminate or modify has furnished services in accord party in interest and may present ns shall be the same as for com* loard shall include a fee therefor d in the same manner as paymenr nted by an attorney or by a memntative shall be selected by the before it or any Referee. I j any action taken under Article II proved in writing by the presida judge of the court of common ny action taken under Article III proved by the Board. F the employer be notified of the stion to be paid. However, where a shall be payable in the same Referees incurred in administerluary 1, 1938, the Compensation insurance carriers in such manner be paid by each employer shall rerage number of his employees he Act. >rice is given by the Department, und through the Department of Appendix B Disposition of Fines and Fees: All fines and, except as otherwise provided, all fees shall be paid into the Second Injury Reserve Account of the State Workmen's Insurance Fund, to be used for the purposes of that Account. Constitutional Provision: Invalidation of any part of this Act shall not affect the remainder of the Act. Previous Right of Action Not Impaired: Any right of action accrued before this Act shall take effect shall not be affected nor impaired. Repealer: The Act of 191S (P.L. 777), the Supplementary Act of 1925 (P.L. 714) and all other acts inconsistent with this Act are repealed. Effective Date: This Act shall become effective January 1, 1938, except that provision concerning the payment of administrative expenses by employers, which shall be effective as of June 1, 1937. OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE COMPENSATION ACT2 Act No. 552 Purpose: To supplement the Workmen's Compensation Act by including occupational dis eases within the scope thereof. Schedule of Occupational Diseases: t. Poisoning in any occupation involving direct contact with, handling of, or exposure to the following substances or their preparations or compounds: lead, mer cury, arsenic, or manganese; phosphorus, methanol, carbon bisulphide, hydrocarbon distillates (naphthas and others) or halogenated hydro carbons; benzol, or nitro, amido or amino derivatives of benzol (dinitro-benzol, anilin and others) ; radium, or radio active properties of substances or roentgen-ray; chromic acid, or bichromate of am monium, potassium, or sodium or their preparations. 2. Caisson disease resulting from engaging in any occupation carried on in compressed air. 3. Epitheliomafnus cancer or ulceration due to tar, pitch, bitumen, mineral oil, or paraffin, or any compound, product or residue of these substances, in any occupa tion involving direct contact with, handling thereof, or exposure thereto. 4. Infection or inflammation of the skin, or other contact surfaces, due to oils, cutting compounds, lubricants, durt, liquids, fumes, gases, or vapor, in any occupation involving contact with, handling of or exposure to these substances. 5. Silicosis or anthraco-silicosis, and asbestpsis in any occupation involving direct contact with, handling of, or exposure to the dust of silicon dioxide and asbestos, respectively. 6. Anthrax occurring in any occupation involving the handling of or exposure to wool, hair, bristles, hides, or skins, or bodies of animals either alive or dead. Application of Workmen's Compensation Act: The provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act shall apply to this Act as far as consistent. In applying the Workmen's Compensation Act, the same shall in clude occupational disease and the resultant effects thereof, including death. "Disabled" shall mean disabled from earning full wages and "disability," the state of being disabled. The date of injury or accident, as used in the Workmen's Compensation Act, shall under this Act be the date when disability occurs from occupational disease. zOriginalljr introduced its House Bill 1640 by Representatives Eugene A. Caputo of Beaver County and Arthur R. Sc.hor of Philadelphia. L abor and I ndustry, 1935-1936 (OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE COMPENSATION ACT--CONTINUED) The schedule of compensation provided in the Workmen's Compensation Ait shall apply to this Act, except where otherwise specified i;i this Act, in all rase', wherein the employer has accepted the compensation agreement system established i>the Workmen's Compensation Act. Provisions Relating to Rejection of Workmen's Compensation Schedule: In any court action brought by an employee against his employer who has rejected the compensation agreement system it shall be prima facie evidence of the employer s negligence if the employee proves either that he had been discharged within one year after having been given a physical examination by the employer, or that he wa> unable to secure other employment, due to the presence of an occupational disease in any stage, within 6 months after being discharged by the employer. It shall not be a defense of the employer that the injury was due to negligence of the employee or a fellow employee, or that the employee bad assumed the risk of the employment, or that the employee was exposed to the disease hazard in any other employment more than 2 years prior to the court action. The Statute of Limitations shall commence to run from the date of the last ex posure to the disease hazards in the employment of the defendant. Determination of Factors Entering Into Disability and Liability: The employer in whose employment the employee was last exposed in a hazardous occupation and the insurance carrier of the employer at that time shall be liable for payments under this Act. The notice of injury and claim shall b<r sent to such employer. If the employee, at or immediately before the date of disability, was employed in any hazardous employment as specified above, it shall be presumed, but not conclu sively, that the occupational disease is due to the nature of that employment. An employer shall be liable when disability shall be due to such hazardous employment and results within 2 years after the last exposure in such employment; or in case of resultant death, if it occurs within 5 years following disability. In the case of such diseases as the Workmen's Compensation Board shall deter mine results in disability only after an exposure of 5 years or more, the compensation forany disability or death occurring from such diseases during the first 10 years of this Act, shall be paid jointly by the State and the employer, as follows: 1. During the first year, one-tenth of the compensation shall be paid by the em ployer, and nine-tenths by the State from the Second Injury Reserve Account in the State Workmen's Insurance Fund. 2. For each successive year, an additional one-tenth shall be paid by the em ployer, until beginning in the tenth year the employer shall pay the compen sation in full. The sum of $100,000 is appropriated out of the General Fund to be paid into the Second Injury Reserve Account of the State Workmen's Insurance Fund for the above purpose. This shall be repaid as soon as practical. Special Provisions for Certain Diseases: Compensation for silicosis or anthraco-silicosis, or silicosis, anthraco-silicosis com plicated by infection, and asbpstosis, shall be paid only when the employee has had an aggregate employment of at least 2 years in the State, during the 8 years preceding the disability, in an occupation having a silica or asbestos hazard- In regard to silicosis,' aj&thraco-silicosis, and" asSestosis, compensation shall be payable only for total disability or death caused primarily (as distinguished from a contributory'or accelerating cause)"''by any'oT tFese'diseases, or by any when accom panied by active pulmonary tuberculosis or streptococcic infection of the lung. Total liability of the employer unto the employee or his dependents shall not exceed $3,600. In cases involving claims for silicosis or anthraco-silicosis and wherein there are controverted medical issues, the Workmen's Compensation Board or Referee shall appoint a Medical Advisory Board composed of one or more medical experts to be selected from a panel to be submitted by the Secretary of Labor and Industry. This panel shall be made up of names selected from lists submitted by deans of all legally recognized medical schools in the State. The Workmen's Compensation Board or 176 15-1936 >*J A C T -- C O N T I N U E D ) Workmen's Compensation Act ci(ic<l 11 this Act, in all case* igrccmcnt system established In Iion Schedule: ;t his employer who has rejected facie evidence of the employer's cen discharged within one year the employer, or that he was e of an occupational disease in * the employer. e injury was due to negligence pioyee had assumed the risk of the disease hazard in any other n. i from the date of the last exe defendant. id Liability: was last exposed in a hazardous at that time shall be liable for I claim shall be sent to such of disability, was employed in I be presumed, bur not conciui of that employment, all be due to such hazardous exposure in such employment; *s following disability. Dispensation Board shall deter* ears or more, the compensation >es during the first 10 years of nplover, as follows: iation shall be paid by the emSccond Injury Reserve Account fnth shall be paid by the cmmplover shall pay the compen- ' General Fund to be paid into men's Insurance Fund for the ah silicosis, anthraco-silicosis comwhen the employee has had an , during the 8 years preceding ;tos hazard. lestosis, compensation shall be arily (as distinguished from a eases, or by any when accomic infection of the lung. Total ndents shall not exceed $3,600. silicosis and wherein there are iation Board or Referee shall or more medioal experts to be f of Labor and Industry. This emitted by deans of all legally nen's Compensation Board or J \*1 i l A ppendix B Referee shall order the claimant to be examined as the Medical Advisory Board may direct. The Medical Advisory Board shall then file a report with the Workmen's Compensation Board or Referee stating its opinion in the following matters: j ). Wild Iter the disease is present and, in death cases, whether the disease was the cause. 2. The extent of injury, if the disease is present. Within 20 days of the filing of the report, a copy thereof shall be sent to each of the parties involved. Autopsies shall be ordered in the following cases: 1. When the Workmen's Compensation Board or Referee, upon the advice of the I Medical Advisory Board, deems an autopsy necessary to determine rhe cause of death. 2. Upon application of the employer, when the Medical Advisory Board recom mends an autopsy to determine the cause of death. The findings of such autopsy shall be filed with the State Department of Health, copies thereof being filed with the Workmen's Compensation Board or Referee and becoming public records. All reports of the Medical Advisory Board shall be considered as evidence to \ gether with any other medical evidence offered in behalf of the parties: Members of j the Board may be examined at any hearing provided a request for this to be done shall be filed by cither party with the Referee or Workmen's Compensation Board within 10 days >after notice of the filing of the report has been mailed to the parties. If the claimant refuses to submit to any examination ordered by the Medical Advisory Board, or to permit any autopsy so ordered to be performed within 6 months after death, all proceedings shall be suspended and, in the latter case of refusal, the claim shall be disallowed. Authorization of Physician's Entry: The Workmen's Compensation Board or Referee may authorize the entry of any physician, surgeon or medical expert upon the premises of the defendant employer in order to ascertain the facts in any case arising under this Act. Constitutional Provision: The invalidation of any part of this Act shall not affect the remaining parts. Effective Date; , This Act shall become effective January 1, 1938. AMENDMENT TO ACCIDENT REPORT LAW3 Act No. 19 Purpose: To amend the Act requiring employers to report industrial accidents, by requiring a report 15 days after injury, and 4-8 hours after death, instead of 30 days after be ginning ol: disability, and by increasing penalties for non-compliance. Requirement: Within 15 days after the date of any injury received by an employee in the course of or resulting from his employmetff, and within 48 hours of the death of an employee occurring from such injury, the employer, whether a private employer or the Com monwealth or any political subdivision, shall make a report of such injury or death directly to the Department. The report, made in such form as the Department shall prescribe, shall set forth the name, address and business of the employer; name, address, sex, age, nationality, wage or salary, and occupation of the employee; date, day of week, hour, place, cause and character of the injury or death; and in the case of an injury, the nature thereof, and the duration of the disability, or probable dis ability, as far as it can be ascertained. The Department may require further reporr if necessary. SOrigniaUy introduced as Senate Bill 36 by Senator John H. Dent of Westmoreland County. 177 Barry Castleman's Pennsylvania Asbestos file a h CD-ROM Document # PAasb ] U ' DATE / ' ^ 0=undated Type of Document __adv\^l article__ letter from __ trade scientific journal __ published presentation from conference __ published government report __ government inspection results __ unpublished or internal report _ unpublished presentation from conference __ newspaper article __ letter __ memorandum __ industry warning labels __ industry sales literature _ meeting agenda minutes report _ legal___________________________ with BC notes other 258 THE PENNSYLVANIA MEDICAL JOURNAL J anuary, ! Additional Data on Medical Economics Bocks County ..................................................... p. 274 Delaware County ................................................ p. 277 M E D IC O L E G A L Employer Must Pay for Medical Service Al though Em ployee's Claim Is Disallowed.--The N-s.w York Appellate Division, Beckman vs. Clanian, 280 N. Y. S. 75, holds that the fact that the claim of an employee under Workmen's Compensation Law was subsequently disallowed by the State Industrial Board b ause. not filed within 'die stat^ .ory period does not gljeyf the employer of his obligation to pay a third p cip p who furnishes mjfiicrti service on the employer's q ho 'zation and y thoijt knowledge of any disallowanc of tiie employee's claim.--Medical Record, Oct. 15, 19 5. Inadequate Dama g >.- the New 'ork Appellate Division, Mathews vs. Brooklyn etc. Corp., 280 N. Y. S. I3, held that a verdict of $200 to a w.mian injured in i ar 'ccident and $125 to lier husband cor expenses and loss of `vices yvere in [uate where the wife's iril Dries were an inflammator; londition of the bursa of the right ankle, sprain 1 ligaments, contusions of both legs and of the muscles of the lower part of the back and right side of head, resulting in Severe headaches and necessitating confinement in bed for 3 weeks, and th husband's actual expenses wer over $250.--Medical Record, Dct. IS, 1935. Surgeon's A uthority to A uthorize O peration at lplt y er's Expense.--Tq an action by a surgeon again an employer for services rendered to a pe son ,.j had been employed for 12 years by the defendant and who, 5 days prior to the operation in question, had been laid off temporarily, the New York Appellate Di vision, Moss vs. McCarthy, 280' N. Y. S. .137, held that e evidence sustained a finding that the plaintiff called the surgeon, who was clothed with' apparent authority to bind defendant for medical services rendered to em ployees of the defendant, and that the surgeon, with authority to act for the defendant, authorized the opera tion to be performed at the expense of defendant.-- Medical Record, Oct: 15, 1935. i IC -.i M ississippi's Strong M edicine.--Driven to drastic measures by the' alarming increase in unjustified mal practice suits, the Central Mdical Society of Missis sippi has adopted a series of resolutions stating that to carry these suits -through the courts often required the collusion of members of the legal and medical profes sions; it speaks!iof them as legalized blackmail. In order to combat this, increasing tendency, the organ ization has forbidden;-every .inerhber of the society to give evidence in malpractice action unless the testimony has been examined and proved by those designated in the society for the purpose. Through various steps all the evidence is investigated and then put up to impartial medical "consultants," vvho then express in writing their individual opinion as to the validity of the suit. The physician will be encouraged or forbidden to testify ac cording, to the, opinion of these consultants, who are considered to oe, absolutely fair and impartial experts. If the physicien: testifies without paying proper atte i tion to tins eqtsion, he will be expelled from the so ciety for <unprofessional conduct.---.V. Y. Stale . Ml, Oct. 1, 1935. M edical T extbooks in Evidence.--The knowlejg^-v and qualifications of a witness as a medical expert AlrTMe6 be tested as against accepted authorities on the subject'' testified about. And the Texas Court of Civil An,- , peals Hess vs. Millsap, 72 S. W. (2d) 923, holds the same rule should apply to a picture as to the writ- ten text. In an action for burns allegedly causedjlw%* the negligent operation of roentgen rays, r e s u l t i n g ,^ j i baldness, while the plaintiff was. being treated for jjfj. vus, a picture from a medical textbook was allowedj|^ lie introduced in evidence to test the weight of the tastj- mony of a physician, the witness on cross-examination ` describing the picture as showing "a moderate infection 1 because the patient has hair scattered over his scalp,"** . Medical Record, Oct. 2, 1935. fms,, HOSPITAL ACTIVITIES A dm inistrative Problem s.--The depression yearj have been trying years *or commissioners, trustees, superintendents, and administrative officers of hospilak. Trying in the sense that the hospital, despite a decrease in revenue, must remain open and be efficiently main-tained. and an adequate personnel must- be retained and paid a living wage. All hospitals, large or small, have suffered jut.fhe small hospital has possibly suffered the.most, i , sotpfstales federal aid has been possible. In Pennsylvania we have had to rely on thr generosity of the comino* wealth through its state-aided system. Administratively,,a hospital is not unlike running a machine. If the car is fairly modern,.^controlled by safe hands, and its mechanism kept ip order, mainte nance resolves itself ...into the cost of t ie operation, minor mechanical adjustments, tires, gas, and, oil. L> time, however, the machine co'iapses and accidents are prone to occur. , ,, Many hospitals :tpndUy are .not new-: The physical units are in need of veepairs and adjustments. Mainte nance allowance resolves itself into tires, tubes, and oil. Many'are fotced ,o use old tires 'ith but one rest'1 , a bl6W-"Otit, and a horrible catastrophe; will'ensue. Particularly is this true in mental hospitals through out the country which have not :en fortunate enough to ..procure federal relief, Money, for capital outlay is hut a, bey sent on a man's errand. Overcrowding and fire hazards exist, the. tires and :>es fiiru vely speak ing ire worn to the thread. .jj ( ,.;Ttyp stage is all set for a catastrophe thjt will startle the ciyfK?e 1 world, and beneath the srr j ,ering embers one beholds the remains of what the world has been Ipqking r'for--"the forgotten man." 'Fate and tragedy wiil have revealed him. Such, possibilities make oqr administrative problems trying indeed,- Menial Health Bulletin, Oct. 15, 1935. J, ' i y iil..-A ' i II 1g Iff %i.&..?/jFT*.'-w Pl- p i .;ipMi j p? INDUSTRIAL M EDICINE Lung Disease Increases W ith 'Asbestos Indus try.--A serious public health problem, pulmonary asbestosis, has arisen in recent years as a result of the fourfold increase in the manufacture of asbestos prod ucts. The health hazards of the aSbjStos industry were pointed out to the American Publi health Association by Dr. J. Connolly, Huntersville, N. C. Lack of protection from the inhalation of asbestos dust has been the cause of the .disability of many work tfi - J anuary, 1936 TH E PENNSYLVANIA MEDICAL JOURNAL 2S9 ers. Roentgen-ray films were made of 151 workers in asbestos mills ; 52 films showed definite evidence of lung disease. Of the 151 workers, 86 had worked in the industry for periods varying from 4 to 20 years. In this group were found 51 of the positive cases of asbestosis, a percentage of 59.3. Only one case with positive roentgen-ray evidence of asbestosis had worked in the industry less than 4 years. The positive cases were 34.4 per cent of the total, 151. Five films of this series showed a healed tuberculosis with no asbestosis, and 3 showed a healed tuberculosis complicated by as bestosis. These workers had spent from 4 to 10 years in the industry. There was no evidence that their work tended to reactivate their tuberculosis lesions. Asbestosis is a slowly progressive condition after it is once acquired, even though there has been cessation of exposure to the dust for extended periods.--Science News Letter, Oct. 19, 1935. Propose an In stitu te of In d u strial M edicine.-- A national institute of industrial medicine to protect the health of American workers was proposed to tne American Public Health Association by Dr. Henry II. Kessler, medical director of the New Jersey Rehabilita tion Commission. The working group must not be looked on as a special class, for today it forms the larger part of the entire population and, since the mechanization of agriculture, includes the farmers of th country. The average worker lives 6 or 8 years less than the average member of the population, Dr. Kessler pointed out in calling attention to the need for special means of protecting this important class. The institute as outlined would have a fourfold func tion. It would promote research in industrial diseases, sponsor a campaign to teach th worker how to pro tect his own health, promulgate legislation for the pro tection of the worker, and develop standards of in dustrial health. Ari important function of such an institute would be the creation of a panel of qualified medical and non medical experts who could be called on in litigation over industrial diseases, compensation cases, and the like, thus correcting the present abuses in law cases involv ing occupational disease. The proposed national institute of industrial medicine' is in line with the present trend of governments assum ing more and more responsibility for the protection of life and health of individual citizens. The 2 chief occupational diseases are silicosis in.the dqsty trades and skin disea s iron exposure to irritat ing chemicals i various..industries.--Science Next'* Let ter, Oct. 19, 1935. New Blbd T est Reveals A pproach of Lead PSisomng.--A test ->'hich shows the approach of lead j zoning before the disease has dually developed was reported by Drs. Carey P. McCord and F. R Holden and Jan Johnston of the Industrial Health Conservancy Laboratories, Cincinnati, to the American Public Health Association. The test is, particularly yaluable in protecting in dustrial workers who are exposed, to lead in the course of their work. By means of the test, which .,is called the basoph'lic aggregation test, the physician can tell whether or not lead poisoning is the early prospective lot -of the individual being examined '*In thk test," Dr. McCord explained, "counts are made of embryonic blood cells, which i_. norma1 persons, rarely exceed 1 per cent of the total number or -red cells in the' blood but which in the case- of lead poison ing may amount to much higher percentages, such as 4, 6, or 10 per cent." An extensive lead poisoning epidemic which took place in the automobile industry in 1934 and 1935 pro vided an opportunity for evaluating the new diagnostic procedure. In this epidemic 8000 tests were made with results more than 95 per cent accurate. The epidemic resulted from the use of metallic lead in automobile body production. Lead in the form of dust and fumes was inhaled by exposed workers, with the result that many hundreds were injured by this industrial intoxication. The total number of persons either affected with clinical lead poisoning or who evinced evidences of lead absorption is not known for the entire industry, but it has been set approximately at 4000, This epidemic of lead poisoning has led to many changes in manufacturing processes in order to obviate repeti tion of this occupational disease outbreak. Already in many automobile plants control appliances and prac tices have been installed sufficient to make unlikely any large number of poisoning cases.-- Science News Letter, Oct. 19, 1935. PHYSICAL THERAPY Light Therapy and Roentgen Therapy in Tuber culosis.--Edgar Mayer, New York (Journal A. M. A., Nov. 16, 1935), points out that light therapy, both natural and artificial, is of definite value in the treatment of some forms of tuberculosis. Natural heliotherapists, especially those working in high altitudes, emphasize solar radiation and aerotherapy. On the other hand, those in cloudy climates have stressed the use of arti ficial lights and still others, on occasion, the roentgen rays. Benefits are undoubtedly obtained by patients suffering from tuberculosis of the bones, articulations, peritoneum, intestine,- lymph nodes, and larynx when the entire body is exposed to carefully graded doses of natural sunlight or to radiation emitted by certain arti ficial sources of light rays. The beneficial results of such irradiation are due not only to ultraviolet rays. The visible and infra-red rays, as well as the condi tions of the atmosphere, play a certaiii part in . the therapeutic effect. In tuberculosis of the skin, lupus vulgaris alone can be said to respond specifically to light. Scrofuloderma and erythema induratum react favorably at times to general and local exposure, al though riot as constantly. Lupus erythematosus does not respond to anc may be aggravated by light. In tube*-tul.osis of the bones ana articulations, it is generallj agreed that suitable, graded exposure to natural sunligli is most effective in aiding the healing accomplished by: orthopedic arid other measures. Exposure to arti ficial sou) .us is a second choice. 'Pulmonary tubercu losis is not an indication for light'therapy ; stationary pleural tuberculosis has often been helped by this meas ure. Genito-urinary tuberculosis deserves a trial of such treatment in combination with other measures. Local exposure to ultraviolet rays of circumscribed tulierculous lesions of the urinary bladder has been shown to yield favorable results, but the method re quires special applicating devices and, above all, skill ful treatment of. the bladder lesion. Ocular tuberculosis and aural tuberculosis respond infrequently to light. Oral tuberculosis ii most resistant. Fistulas .are often resistant to such treatment. Postoperative sinuses, in contrast, are most responsive. Intestinal, peritoneal, and lymph node tuberculosis especially indie; te ligj}t therapy and often are rapidly responsive. In tuber-