Pennsylvania: Court Affirms Denial of Claim for Holistic “Medical” Treatment Performed in India

A Pennsylvania appellate court affirmed the dismissal of a petition for reimbursement of Ayurvedic therapy—a form of holistic alternative medicine that is the traditional system of medicine in India—based upon the failure of the claimant, a licensed Pennsylvania nurse, to show either that the services were provided under the supervision of, or upon referral or prescription from, a licensed Pennsylvania health care practitioner, as required by 77 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 531(1)(i).  Moreover, the court found that 77 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 29, which limited payment of medical bills to services by Pennsylvania licensed health care providers, was not unconstitutional under equal protection or the commerce clause.  Claimant had described the treatment in India as "like massages and oil treatment" and contrasted it with massages she was receiving in the United States.

Thomas A. Robinson, J.D., the Feature National Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter, is a leading commentator and expert on the law of workers’ compensation.

LexisNexis Online Subscribers: Citations below link to Lexis Advance. Bracketed citations link to lexis.com.

See Babu v. Workers’ Comp. Appeal Bd. (Temple Continuing Care Ctr.), 2014 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 448 (Sept. 15, 2014) [2014 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 448 (Sept. 15, 2014)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 94.03 [94.03]

Source: Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, the nation’s leading authority on workers’ compensation law.

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