You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Uncategorized' category.
OUCH! has moved to rolandlegal.wordpress.com.
Roland Niemi Law Group has new contact information (including a toll free number), and we’re working on a new look for our website and our blog. Please update your address books:
Roland Niemi Law Group, PLLC
P.O. Box 910454
Lexington, Kentucky 40591-0454
859.402.2671
toll free 888.958.4999
fax 859.422.4944
As a follow-up to our January 3, 2009 post, here’s a Lexington Herald-Leader article on some Ridge Behavioral Health employees doing a New Year’s weigh in (a la The Office) as part of a weight loss/charitable initiative where for each pound lost by the group a pound of food will be donated to God’s Pantry. The group’s goal is a collective 702 lbs.
Read the full article here: http://www.kentucky.com/181/story/651445.html
The Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims has just released its December 2008 issue of Kentucky EDI News. The newsletter provides information and updates relative to the Kentucky workers’ compensation EDI program. The current issue focuses primarily on first reports of injury (FROI). Click here to view the December 2008 newsletter.
Roland Niemi’s blog will go slightly off-topic for today’s post to tell you about a family in need.
Kathryn Keller, an adjuster with Gallagher Bassett in Louisville, Kentucky recently learned that her 13 year old son, Jamie, had been diagnosed with Burkitt Lymphoma.
Jamie is currently in the cancer unit at UK Hospital in Lexington Kentucky. Kathryn is a single mother with a younger son, and has been driving daily between her home in Liberty, Kentucky, the hospital and her office.
To help assist with the increasing costs facing Kathryn and her family, a benefit fund has been set up at National City Bank. Donations can be mailed or taken to any National City Bank in the United States and can be made payable to Kathryn Keller c/o James Kuhn. Any donation amount will be appreciated.
In an e-mail Kathryn told us, “I think all parents should be aware of this disease. Although it is rare it can happen. If we had waited another 24 hrs of taking Jamie to the doctor, we would not be talking about his treatment, future treatment or his future at all. I pray that no other parent or family would have to go through what my family has gone through the past couple of weeks.”
Please feel free to forward or link to this post. Above all, keep Kathryn and her family in your prayers.
For those unfamiliar with Burkitt Lymphoma, the disease is named after Dr. Denis Burkitt who first described it in 1955. The symptoms of Burkitt Lymphoma, also known as B-cell lymphoma, High-grade B-cell lymphoma, and Small non-cleaved cell lymphoma, most commonly involve swelling of the lymph nodes. While the swollen lymph nodes can often be painless, they can have a rapid growth rate. Treatment involves intensive chemotherapy that in more than 50% of cases can result in a cure of the disease.
For more information on Burkitt Lymphoma, visit these sites:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001308.htm
http://lymphoma.about.com/od/nonhodgkinlymphoma/p/burkitts.htm
On August 19, 2008, the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce will host its 18th Annual Workers’ Compensation Seminar at the Galt House in Louisville, Kentucky. The seminar, aimed at human resources professionals, costs $299 for Chamber Members and $399 for non-members. The seminar will be repeated on September 23, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky.
For more information or registration, contact Casey Adams at the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, (502) 695-4700, extension 8727, or visit www.kychamber.com.
The Southern Association of Workers’ Compensation Administrators (SAWCA) will hold its annual convention in Washington, D.C. on July 21st through July 25th at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. The convention’s theme is “Workers’ Compensation Programs Insure $Capitol$ Success.”
SAWCA president Laura Freight says, “The General Sessions are planned to provide the most current information on workers’compensation and the Committee Chairs have prepared agendas with dynamic speakers to ensure that the meetings are informative and educational.”
Scheduled committees topics include the AMA’s 6th Edition, safety and loss prevention, claims administration, and other relevant topics for the workers’ compensation administrator.
AIG is the convention’s sponsor. To view the SAWCA convention brochure with registration costs and accommodation information click here.
A federal jury recently acquitted fen-phen attorney Melbourne Mills of defrauding clients of millions of dollars of fen-phen litigation settlement funds. You can view the video of Mills’ release from prison here. The fate of the two remaining defendants, Shirley Cunningham, Jr. and William Gallion, hangs in the balance as the jury verges on deadlock.
Click here to read a recent story on the trial from the Lexington Herald-Leader.
Click here to read the Courier Journal story on Mills’ release.
Postscript: Kypost.com reports a mistrial was subsequently declared as to the remaining defendants when the jury failed to arrive at a verdict following an eight day deliberation. Click here to read the kypost.com story.
With summer heat comes a greater risk for work-related injury or illness such as heat cramps, rashes, heat stroke or heat exhaustion. During these next few months, employers should be more cognizant of safety precautions for employees who are exposed to the summer heat. Visit this link at OSHA for a list of safety tips for working in the heat.
