Ahsleigh Q. Gallagher of Pond Lehocky Giordano LLP. Courtesy photo Again Embracing Opioid Alternatives, Court Requires Employer to Reimburse Injured Worker's CBD Oil Expenses
Once again embracing opioid alternatives as treatment for injured workers' pain, the Commonwealth Court recently ruled in Schmidt v. Schmidt, Kirifides and Rassias (Workers' Compensation Appeal Board), that cannabidiol (CBD) oil was a reimbursable treatment under the WCA because it was both a medical "supply" and a "medicine" under the WCA.
January 11, 2024 at 11:24 AM
9 minute read
This past May, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, in Fegley v. Firestone Tire & Rubber, 291 A.3d 940, ruled that while the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act (WCA) does not require insurers to cover injured workers' medical marijuana costs when insurers are billed directly from a dispensary, it does require insurers to reimburse workers' out-of-pocket medical marijuana costs that are reasonable, necessary, and related to their work injuries. I explained that in doing so, the Commonwealth Court opened a new world of treatment options for injured workers in the state that could also lessen or eliminate future societal costs levied by continued widespread opioid use and abuse.
Once again embracing opioid alternatives as treatment for injured workers' pain, the Commonwealth Court recently ruled in Schmidt v. Schmidt, Kirifides and Rassias (Workers' Compensation Appeal Board), No. 1039 C.D. 2021, that cannabidiol (CBD) oil was a reimbursable treatment under the WCA because it was both a medical "supply" and a "medicine" under the WCA. The injured worker in the case was himself a workers' compensation attorney who admitted in his court papers that the main purpose of his case was to further develop case law regarding reimbursement of CBD products under the WCA. Mission accomplished.
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