Workers' Compensation Discussion Forums

I was injured at work went to occ healthcare took test came back dirty no prescription for it. Does company have to pay to fix my injury and Am I eligible for workmans comp?

I've always understood with all accidents that if the person is under the influence of anything that nothing is covered BUT I don't know your circumstances. Some drugs are stopped but still show up hence the person is not necessarily under the influence at the time of injury. This is what I have been told, hopefully others will come along with more knowledge. I know someone who this happened to recently and she was fired with no care. I'm sorry. It may depend on your state, employer, etc. This is just my knowledge.

Capricorn

Well, I thought also some States have different guidelines for these issues.

Need State information.

Next would be, what did the test reveal. You do have a right to a copy of it, and can contest the testing procedure, demanding a far better test be run. By that time, hopefully your clean.

Somewhere I read that if a person is injured and under the influence of something that IF the accident would've happened regardless of whether the person was under the influence or not..then it would be covered. For example: A beam falls due to the wind and it fell on an employee that had alcohol or drugs in their system, then it would be covered. If that same employee was standing where they shouldn't have been but due to being under the influence they forgot, then it wouldn't be covered. Probably not a very good example. I think I read this on some wc cases that went to the supreme court. It probably depends on each state's rules also.

Hubby & family own a small business. One of the employees was injured in an auto accident.

The hospital did blood test that came back dirty, the employee was under the influence of illegal drugs at the time of the accident.

As a result the auto insurance did not pay for the employee's medical bills and work comp was denied.

This was in the state of Kansas.

Always CHALLENGE a Urine test....

Unfortunately, this may be difficult since urine tests may detect marijuana 1-5 days after an occasional use, 1-3 weeks in regular users, and 4-6 weeks in multiple daily users. Since urine tests do not detect the psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, THC, but rather other, nonactive metabolites, they in no way measure impairment;

Although urine tests are far from infallible, it is difficult to challenge positive test results. "False positives," in which workers are wrongfully accused of marijuana use, are highly unlikely so long as labs exercise proper care (however, not all labs do this). The standard procedure is to first screen the samples with an immunoassay test (e.g., EMIT® or RIA®), then confirm positive results with the more accurate gas chromatograph mass spectrometer (GCMS). This virtually eliminates the chance of false positives in exchange for a relatively high rate of "false negatives," where drug use is not detected. The sensitivity of the test is determined by the concentration of metabolites it is set to detect: for the Dept. of Transportation, the standard cutoff is 50 nanograms/milliliter (ng/ml).

LEGAL CHALLENGES: Prospective employees have no legal right to challenge pre-employment drug screens. However, workers who are already employed may be able to challenge their employers' drug testing plans in certain situations depending on labor law and local regulations. Avoid signing anything that gives your boss the right to arbitrarily test you; by stating your objections, you will strengthen your right to refuse a test. If you think you are being unjustly tested, you may have cause for legal action. San Francisco, Berkeley and some other jurisdictions forbid on-the-job drug testing except in safety-sensitive positions.

We are sorry having to mention these devious techniques, but feel it is necessary to defend innocent people against wrongful accusations of drug abuse. Some States urge you to use this information responsibly and not as a way of hiding irresponsible marijuana use.

BB...That's exactly what I was talking about. Some drugs will come up a month later. Doesn't mean even though it's a "hot" that the person was using at the time. I hope bewildered comes back with more info.

Snowbear...I thought that was a perfect example



Capricorn

Most states use a concept called rebuttable presumptive. It's too long winded to type out here but If you google that term you may find an answer to your question as you never really told us the circumstances and it is the facts surrounding the test result, not the test result itself, that determines the allowance or denial of an injury with a positive urine test.

It might interest you to know that there is no scientific correlation between any (that's right, any ) level of drug in urine and impairment.

it was weed I injured my shoulder pulling a pallet in Indiana how do I challange the screen what do I do?