Nebraska: Wyoming Coroner’s Report Not Entitled to Full Faith and Credit

A Wyoming county coroner’s report that listed the cause of death as an accidental overdose of medications an injured worker was taking to relieve pain following a compensable injury is evidence to be considered, but it is not entitled to full faith and credit, held a Nebraska appellate court. The coroner noted the presence of oxycodone and cyclobenzaprine (a muscle relaxant) in the employee’s system at the time of an autopsy. The employee’s widow contended he had died from an accidental overdose. The employer offered testimony by a board-certified clinical chemist, toxicologist, and forensic toxicologist that while the drugs were indeed present, the levels were far beneath those that would have been required to cause injury or death. The court ruled such testimony was substantial evidence in spite of the fact that the chemist was not a physician. The fact that the widow was required to show the cause of death by means of competent medical testimony did not mean nonmedical expert evidence was inadmissible.

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 Michie v. Anderson Builders, Inc., 22 Neb. App. 731, 2015 Neb. App. LEXIS 27 (Feb. 3, 2015) [22 Neb. App. 731, 2015 Neb. App. LEXIS 27 (Feb. 3, 2015)]

See generally Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law, § 128.05 [128.05]

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