Health Care

Update: claims deadline for Oxy addiction class settlement extended

February 22, 2024

Do you know someone who was on OxyContin or OxyNEO? There is a Canadian class action on behalf of people who were prescribed OxyContin or OxyNEO anytime between January 1, 1996, and February 28, 2017 and became addicted. A $20 million settlement…

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Important notice: Oxy Addiction Class Action settlement

October 19, 2023

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WSIAT Decision 971/23: Reimbursement for medical marijuana

August 19, 2023

A recent decision by Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal (WSIAT) confirms the circumstance under which an injured worker may be reimbursed for the cost of medical cannabis. It has an interesting connection to the very first case that allowed reimbursement…

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Summary of response to the Consultation on Naloxone in the Workplace

January 17, 2022

In its submission to the Naloxone in the Workplace Consultation, Injured Workers Community Legal Clinic (IWC) welcomes and supports efforts to increase workplace safety, including access to naloxone to reduce the risk of deaths caused by opioid overdoses. The Clinic also…

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Class action about opioid addiction

October 1, 2021

OxyContin has fueled the opioid crisis in Canada for many years. Purdue Pharma created OxyContin and made billons off of it while falsely promoting it as a less addictive opioid. In 2007, Purdue pled guilty in the U.S. to misleading regulators and…

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“The pandemic is a mirror, and it shows us who we care about. And who we don’t”

June 29, 2020

Treatment of some farm workers ‘a national disgrace’: Minister Canada’s Minister of Health Patty Hajdu was speaking to the special committee in the House of Commons following the death of the third migrant farmworker to die of COVID-19 on an Ontario farm.…

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Spotlight on WCB policies and opioids

June 21, 2020

In a Globe and Mail investigation, reporter Kathy Tomlinson has explored how workers’ comp fanned the flames of an opioid crisis that leaves addiction, overdose and death in its wake. Her examination of appeal decisions and the experiences of injured workers reveals…

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Investigating WCBs and painkiller addiction – request for participation

November 14, 2019

Globe and Mail investigative reporter Kathy Tomlinson is researching if and how workers’ compensation systems across Canada lead injured workers to take addictive painkillers for long periods – and how that affects people’s lives. In particular, she will be looking at whether…

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The Opioid crisis, injured workers, and the WSIB

August 17, 2018

Although the opioid crisis is now recognized as a national priority in both Canada and the United States, the two countries with the highest per capita opioid usage, a feature article in Workers’ Comp Hub Newsletter (summer 2018) highlights the fact…

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Difficulties accessing medical marijuana

July 13, 2018

“Ontario injured workers shut out of medical pot coverage – told to take opioids instead” / John Lancaster (CBC News, Jul. 12, 2018) A CBC Toronto investigation reveals the dilemma many injured workers face in Ontario when denied coverage for medical marijuana…

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