yes 941500 640

How the Court Ruled

25 May, 2023 Chris Parker

yes 941500 640
                               

If you chose A, you sided with the court in Dimeo v. Trinity Health Corp., No. 535739 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. App. Div. 05/18/23), which held that the therapist’s heart attack, while it may have been triggered by stress, constituted a physical injury.

The court pointed to the doctor’s diagnosis that the therapist suffered a myocardial infarction. Further, when questioned, the doctor testified that while there was no blockage and heart function appeared normal the next day, the therapist indeed suffered a heart attack and not a mild emotional distress event, as the board suggested.

Workers' Comp 101: What is a myocardial infarction? It's the scientific name for a heart attack and, according to Stedmans Medical Dictionary, produces indicative electrocardiographic changes in the anterior chest leads and often in limb leads, I and aVL.

The court noted that a myocardial infarction, in and of itself, constitutes a physical injury. The fact that there was no evidence on the echocardiogram the following day did not negate the fact that an injury occurred.

“The extent of the damage caused by the myocardial infarction relates to the extent of the disability and not whether the claim for a physical injury causally related to work has been established,” the court wrote.

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