Did Prescription for Fentanyl Mean Indiana Driver wasn’t ‘Intoxicated’ in Deadly Crash?

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A delivery driver took prescription fentanyl for pain, so was that enough to overcome an intoxication defense on his widow's workers' compensation claim following his death in a vehicle accident while working? Simply Research subscribers have access to the full text of the case.

Case

Jones v. Pillow Express Delivery, Inc., No. 93A02-0901-EX-68 (Ind. Ct. App. 07/09/09).

What Happened

A driver for a delivery company was killed in a vehicle accident while returning to Indiana after making a delivery in Ohio. The driver had been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, for which his doctor prescribed him a patch that released fentanyl into the body.

The driver's wife and nephew testified that the patch often made the driver act as though he was intoxicated and that while using it, the driver would slur his speech, have problems walking, and appear "messed up."

On the day at issue, the driver was accompanied by his nephew, who reported that the driver hit a parked car in a parking lot in Ohio and on the way back to Indiana began falling asleep at the wheel and swerving on the road.

The nephew also reported that he lit a marijuana cigarette and offered it to the driver, who "took one puff but did not inhale deeply."

The accident occurred when the driver nodded off and the nephew told him, "You're nodding off again and you're swerving," at which point the driver corrected the direction of the truck and crossed in front of an oncoming semi, which struck the truck and killed the driver on impact.

The driver's widow filed an application for adjustment of claim. A single hearing member denied coverage, deciding that the driver's accident was caused by his intoxication, and the Workers' Compensation Board upheld the decision.

The widow appealed to court.

Rule of Law

Under Ind. Code Sec. 22-3-2-2 through 22-3-2-8, Indiana's Workers' Compensation Act provides that no compensation is allowed for an injury or death due to the employee's intoxication.

What the Court Said

According to the court, the driver was intoxicated at the time of the accident. Although the widow argued that use of medication prescribed by a physician could not form the basis of an intoxication defense, the court disagreed.

"Although the possession of a valid prescription for a controlled substance is a statutory defense to the charge of driving a vehicle with a schedule II controlled substance in the person's body, ... it is not a defense to the charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated," the court wrote. "Thus, for the purposes of operating a motor vehicle, it is not a crime to simply operate a motor vehicle with a prescribed controlled substance in one's system; however, it becomes a crime when the driver becomes intoxicated by the prescribed controlled substance to the extent that it impairs his thought and actions and he loses normal control of his faculties."

In the court's view, it was undisputed that the driver's fentanyl use caused him to be intoxicated and that this intoxication led directly to the accident and the driver's death, and so his widow was not entitled to workers' compensation benefits.

Verdict: The court affirmed the Workers' Compensation Board's decision.

Takeaway

The mere presence of a prescribed controlled substance, standing alone, is not sufficient to automatically disqualify a claimant from worker's compensation benefits. However, when the prescribed controlled substance causes an intoxicating effect, which contributes directly to the cause of an accident, the claimant is ineligible to receive compensation under Indiana's Workers' Compensation Act.

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