Page 12 - Occupational Health & Safety, October 2017

INDUSTRY UPDATE
■ Same-day shipping to 13 western states, from the Rockies west
■ One-day delivery to most of Califor- nia and Nevada
■ Two- or three-day delivery to most of the remaining western states
According to Doug Rose, CEO of Oc- cuNomix, “Providing great service to our customers is a top priority, so we are ex- cited to launch our distribution center in Sparks, Nevada. This distribution center will greatly shorten delivery times for all customers in the western United States. The investment reflects our commitment to give our distribution partners a further competitive edge with fast delivery of our broad line of products.”
New Video Addresses
Tank Gauging Hazards
NIOSH and the California Department of Public Health’s Occupational Health Branch (CDPH-OHB) have released a video to help protect oil and gas extrac- tion workers from hazards they face dur- ing oil tank gauging—manually measuring the level of oil in storage tanks. The 13:25 video, “Protecting Oil and Gas Workers from Hydrocarbon Gases and Vapors,” dis- cusses the health and safety risks involved with this activity and how employers and workers can reduce injuries and fatalities from exposure to toxic gases and oxygen- deficient atmospheres.
It relates the experiences of oil and gas workers who are responsible for tank gauging and sampling crude oil through comments by a truck owner/operator, a company operations superintendent, and the widow and son of a man who died of sudden cardiac death while gauging. The video also illustrates engineering and other controls to prevent injuries and discusses the new API 18.2 standard for safely mea- suring oil levels.
“These workers often work long shifts, the weather can be severe, and many work at night or alone,” according to NIOSH. “From 2010-2014, there were at least 9 deaths associated with exposure to a mix- ture of hydrocarbon gas and insufficient oxygen when the thief hatch at the top of the storage tank was opened. The results of an overexposure can be immediate; the gases affect eyes, lungs and the central ner- vous system, and can cause the heart to have abnormal rhythms resulting in dizzi- ness and disorientation, loss of conscious-
ness, and even sudden cardiac death.”
The video covers information in the 2016 NIOSH-OSHA Hazard Alert: Health and Safety Risks for Workers Involved in Manual Tank Gauging and Sampling at Oil and Gas Extraction Sites and describes and
demonstrates these recommendations:
■ Employers should implement engi- neering controls that eliminate the need to open tank hatches (thief hatches); conduct hazard assessments and determine neces- sary controls to protect workers; commu- nicate information to on-site workers and off-site contractors; and train workers on proper use of controls and in emergency
response procedures.
■ Workers should inform designated
personnel when beginning and finishing work; remove all items that could spark or ignite flammable gas; wear appropriate PPE, including a properly calibrated and tested multi-gas monitor; bleed off pres- sure using the right tools; determine wind direction when manually gauging; and stay informed.
Mylan Paying $465 Million to Settle Case About EpiPen Classification Pharmaceutical companies Mylan Inc. and Mylan Specialty L.P. have agreed to pay $465 million to resolve claims they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly misclas- sifying EpiPen as a generic drug to avoid paying rebates owed primarily to Medicaid, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Aug. 17, in a case that generated wide- spread attention about the rising cost of the anti-allergy EpiPen auto-injection device. Mylan Inc. and Mylan Specialty L.P. are wholly owned subsidiaries of Mylan N.V., which is headquartered in Canonsburg, Pa.
“This settlement demonstrates the De- partment of Justice’s unwavering commit- ment to hold pharmaceutical companies accountable for schemes to overbill Med- icaid, a taxpayer-funded program whose purpose is to help the poor and disabled,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler of DOJ’s Civil Division. “Drug manufacturers must abide by their legal obligations to pay appropriate rebates to state Medicaid programs.”
The settlement provides for resolution of all potential Medicaid rebate liability claims by the federal government, as well as potential claims by certain hospitals and other covered entities that participate in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. The
settlement allocates money to the Medicaid programs of all 50 states and establishes a framework for resolving all potential state Medicaid rebate liability claims within 60 days. In connection with the settlement, Mylan also has entered into a Corporate Integrity Agreement with the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services. The settle- ment does not contain an admission or finding of wrongdoing.
Mylan will reclassify the EpiPen Auto- Injector for purposes of the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and pay the rebate appli- cable to innovator products effective as of April 1, 2017.
“As we said when we announced the settlement last year, bringing closure to this matter is the right course of action for Mylan and our stakeholders to allow us to move forward. Over the course of the last year, we have taken significant steps to en- hance access to epinephrine auto-injectors, including bringing a solution to the fast- changing healthcare landscape in the U.S. by launching an authorized generic version at less than half the wholesale acquisition cost of the brand and meaningfully expand- ing our patient access programs,” Mylan CEO Heather Bresch said. “Mylan has al- ways been committed to providing patients in the U.S. and around the world with access to medicine, and we look forward to con- tinuing to deliver on this mission.”
“Mylan misclassified its brand name drug, EpiPen, to profit at the expense of the Medicaid program,” said Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb. “Tax- payers rightly expect companies like Mylan that receive payments from taxpayer-fund- ed programs to scrupulously follow the rules. We will continue to protect the integ- rity of Medicaid and ensure a level playing field for pharmaceutical companies.”
“Our five-year corporate integrity agreement requires intensive outside scru- tiny to assess whether Mylan is complying with the rules of the Medicaid drug rebate program,” added Gregory E. Demske, chief counsel to the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. “In addition, the [agreement] re- quires individual accountability by Mylan board members and executives.”
Business Moves
■ Greensboro, N.C.-based VF Corpo- www.ohsonline.com
12 Occupational Health & Safety | OCTOBER 2017