North Carolina Workers’ Compensation Benefits Denied Because you are on Prescription Drugs?
Last week, an article on Msnbc.com closely examined a growing concern to potential North Carolina workers’ compensation claimants and others locked in battle with their employers to get compensation for a sickness or injury sustained at work. The issue involves prescription drugs and injuries on the job. If you are on, for instance, an opiate painkiller, such as Oxycodone, and you get into an injury accident at work – such as fall off a ladder or drive an industrial vehicle into an embankment and get whiplash, etc. – your employer can try to deny your North Carolina workers’ compensation charge on the basis that the drugs caused the injury or accident.
The article cites statistics compiled by Quest Diagnostics – a massive diagnostic testing company. According to Quest data, US workers who tested positive for opiates jumped radically in 2009 – by 18%. Since the middle of last decade, the number of workers testing positive for opiates has climbed by 40%. And although pre-employment drug screening tests found that only 0.78% of workers tested positive; post-accident tests found that 3.7% of accident victims tested positive. In the words of the Director of Science and Technology for Employer Solutions for Quest: “our data should be an indicator of concern for both employers and employees regarding the potential impact of these drugs on workers and safety.”
A North Carolina workers’ compensation case from 2009 illustrates the point. In that case, a carpenter fell and got severely hurt. His employer sought to deny his workers’ comp claim because he tested positive for opiates. A court ultimately found in favor of the carpenter’s position because the test did not indicate how much narcotic he had in his body when he fell.
If you or someone you care about faces employer or insurance company scrutiny because you got hurt or sick on the job while on medications (or you tested positive for drugs or alcohol), it’s in your interest to discuss how to proceed with a quality, experienced North Carolina workers’ compensation law firm. If you approach your employer (or the insurance company) improperly – or misrepresent your interests — you could wind up impeding your ability to collect crucial benefits that you need to get healthier and rebuild your career.
More Web Resources
All about Oxycodone
More about prescription drugs and the workplace
