Police officer secures determination that work caused his heart attack

In New York, a heart injury that is brought on by overexertion or strain in the course of daily work is compensable.

Case name: Village of Bronxville Police Department, 112 NYWCLR 199 (N.Y.W.C.B., Full Board 2012).

Ruling: The New York Workers' Compensation Board held that a police officer's myocardial infarction arose out of and in the course of his employment.

Lack of fixed work site makes car crash compensable (02/25/13)
Failure to tell doctor pain was work-related doesn't curb benefits (02/25/13)
Employer liable for medical care related to latent, progressive injury (02/25/13)
Claim timely filed within 2 years of fatal heart attack (11/01/12)
Late payments, denial of treatment entitle worker to attorney's fees (09/30/11)

What it means: In New York, a heart injury that is brought on by overexertion or strain in the course of daily work is compensable.

Summary: The board held that a police officer's myocardial infarction arose out of and in the course of his employment. The officer alleged that he was climbing the stairs to see the chief when he developed shortness of breath and was treated at the hospital. The board noted that both the treating cardiologist and an impartial specialist testified that the officer had a myocardial infarction that occurred while he was at work. The impartial specialist also testified that the officer "had been in the early stages of a myocardial infarction at the time that he arrived at work, and that ascending the stairs at work was the factor that ultimately caused the myocardial infarction to occur." Although the treating cardiologist testified that the officer had symptoms related to the rupture of an unstable plaque while he was at the gym in the morning before he went to work, the myocardial infarction did not occur until he was at work later in the day.

Read more at the WorkersComp Forum homepage.

February 11, 2013

Newsletter Sign-up