The Supreme Court of Minnesota, in a split decision involving two companion cases, held the federal Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C.S. §§ 801-971, preempts an order made pursuant to the state’s Workers’ Compensation Law requiring an employer to reimburse an...
Agreeing that an injured employee had sufficiently shown that medical marijuana represented reasonable and necessary medical treatment under New Jersey’s Workers’ Compensation Act, the Supreme Court of New Jersey affirmed a decision by a lower appellate court that...
The Supreme Court of New Hampshire reversed—for a second time—a decision of the state’s Compensation Appeals Board that had found workers’ compensation carriers for New Hampshire employers could not be required to reimburse an injured worker...
In a case of first impression, a New York appellate court affirmed an order entered by the state’s Workers’ Compensation Board allowing a medical treatment variance in the form of medical marijuana for an injured worker who suffered from continuing pain after a...
The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts held a workers' compensation insurer need not reimburse an injured employee for the costs of medical marijuana in spite of the fact that the worker was evaluated for, and was issued, a certification to enroll in Massachusetts...
The Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey, in a case of first impression, affirmed a workers’ compensation judge’s finding that an employer was required to reimburse its employee for the employee’s use of medical marijuana dispensed under the state...
Signaling that at least in some cases, an employer and/or workers’ compensation carrier might be required to reimburse an injured worker for the cost of medical marijuana provided under New York’s version of the Compassionate Care Act, a state appellate court held...
In a decision that cast some light on the issue of medical marijuana use by workers’ compensation claimants in New Hampshire, but which did not answer all pertinent questions definitively, the state’s Supreme Court held that the Appeals Board erred when it refused...
By Albert B. Randall, Jr., Esq., Franklin & Prokopik, P.C. Navigating federal and state laws regarding medical marijuana and dealing with the workplace implications of the national opioid epidemic are challenging issues facing many businesses today. Currently...
A Michigan Survey Suggests That Medical Marijuana Patients Are Decreasing Opioid Use to Treat Chronic Pain Two topics that have received a great deal of attention in recent years regarding the medical treatment of chronic pain have been the use and abuse of...
In a case of first impression in the District of New Mexico, a federal district court held that an employer was under no obligation to accommodate an employee’s use of medical marijuana, even where the drug had been supplied to the employee under New Mexico’s Compassionate...
Last week LexisNexis published an Emerging Issues Analysis article on prescription drugs and workers’ compensation written by Thomas A. Robinson, the co-author of Larson’s Workers’ Compensation Law . The article examines opioid use, medical marijuana...
In its third decision on the issue of requiring an employer and/or insurer to reimburse the injured worker for the cost of medical marijuana provided to an injured worker under New Mexico’s “Compassionate Use Act,” a state appellate court again found the order...
June 15, 2015 No. 13SC394, Coats v. Dish Network In a highly anticipated decision, the Supreme Court of Colorado unanimously held this week that an employer may justifiably terminate an employee for his off-duty conduct, despite the employee’s adherence to...
Karen C. Yotis, Esq., a Feature Resident Columnist for the LexisNexis Workers’ Compensation eNewsletter , provides insights into workplace issues and the nuts and bolts of the workers’ comp world. How risky would it be if your mailroom employees used...