A decision denying death benefits to the surviving spouse of a New Hampshire worker who died from an overdose of oxycodone and heroin was affirmed by the state’s Supreme Court. The worker, who suffered a serious ankle fracture as a result of a work... Read More

Key takeaways from a recent Tennessee case for both injured workers and employers When do an injured worker’s actions, which led to a tragic overdose of opioids in the Kilburn case, constitute an independent intervening cause and thereby release... Read More

Here’s the latest batch of advanced postings for the December 2013 issue of Cal. Comp. Cases. Lexis.com and Lexis Advance subscribers can link to the case to read the complete headnotes and summaries . © Copyright 2013 LexisNexis. All... Read More

Reversing a decision of a state chancery court that had found an injured worker’s death due to acute oxycodone overdose, coupled with alcohol use, to be compensable, the Supreme Court of Tennessee held that the actions of the worker, in taking more... Read More

The California Supreme Court has reversed a Court of Appeal decision which had in turn reversed a W.C.A.B. award of dependency benefits in South Coast Framing v. W.C.A.B. (Clark) .The Supreme Court decision reinstates the W.C.A.B. award of dependency... Read More

The recent California Supreme Court case, South Coast Framing Inc. v. WCAB (Jovelyn Clark) clarifies the standard of causation in a workers’ comp death case. In day to day workers’ comp practice the decision will probably be helpful to... Read More

In an unpublished opinion, the Court of Appeals of North Carolina affirmed an award, inter alia, of death benefits to dependents of an injured employee who suffered a compensable back injury in June 2010 and died some four years later, as a result of... Read More

By Robert G. Rassp, Esq. I lost a friend recently. He had an “accidental” overdose of fentanyl. He was 53 years old. He graduated with honors from Harvard Medical School and became a skilled plastic surgeon with a fellowship in hand surgery... Read More

By Robert G. Rassp, Esq. I lost a friend recently. He had an “accidental” overdose of fentanyl. He was 53 years old. He graduated with honors from Harvard Medical School and became a skilled plastic surgeon with a fellowship in hand surgery... Read More