Alabama Workers' Comp Blawg

  • 28
  • Feb
  • 2020

Alabama Legislation Seeks to Create PTSD Physical Injury Requirement Exception for First Responders

 

Alabama is a physical-mental state which means you have to have a physical injury in order to be able to recover mental injuries.  Ten years ago,the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals held that PTSD could be recoverable as an occupational disease provided that there was a corresponding physical injury.  Lawmakers are now proposing to amend the Alabama Workers’ Compensation Act to make an exception for first responders. H.B. 44 would apply to law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics, emergency dispatchers, and emergency medical technicians of an emergency services agency or entity. The bill was referred to the House of Representatives committee on Ways and Means General Fund.


About the Author

This blog submission was prepared by Mike Fish, an attorney with Fish Nelson & Holden, LLC, a law firm dedicated to representing self-insured employers, insurance carriers, and third party administrators in all matters related to workers’ compensation. Fish Nelson & Holden is a member of the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network. If you have any questions about this submission or Alabama workers’ compensation in general, please contact Fish by e-mailing him at mfish@fishnelson.com or by calling him directly at 205-332-1448.




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