Spouse Recovers for Husband’s Addiction Death Related to Prescription Medications
As an Atlanta Workers Compensation Attorney, I handle a wide variety of work-related injuries and compensation. In a recent case, a 57-year old plumber who had three different accident dates for his right shoulder and left knee in 1999, 2003, and 2005, and multiple surgeries for rotator cuff repair and total knee replacement, became addicted to his prescription narcotic medications related to his work injuries and surgeries. When he died in 2009, the widow suspected that he had died of a drug overdose.
We were able to obtain an official coroner’s autopsy report attributing the death, in part, to morphine and diazepam, which reflected prescription medications related to his work injuries. The coroner classified the death accidental. The report noted that the worker also had a history of hypertensive cardiovascular disease, renal arteriolosclerosis, and depression.
From the employer/insurer’s perspective, the claimant had a history of drug abuse, both prescription and street drugs, including a period of drug abuse prior to and completely unrelated to any of his work accidents. He also had been through multiple rehabilitation facilities for treatment.
The maximum death benefit in Georgia to qualified dependents for a proven work-related death is $150,000. This is a pitifully small sum for a work-related death, but has not been changed since 2006. To make matters worse, this maximum is also reduced in all cases by the amount of temporary total disability (TTD) weekly income benefits already paid up to 400 weeks. TTD benefits had already been paid to this worker for over 220 weeks, which meant that the remaining 180 weeks at $420 per week was approximately $70,000 in present value.
Additionally, the spouse worked and made more income than her husband. When the spouse is not wholly dependent on the deceased worker’s income, then the recovery is additionally reduced by the proportionate income support. Since the spouse was not wholly dependent on the worker’s income a t the time of his last injury, she was at best statutorily entitled to one-half the $70,000 amount plus $7,500 burial expenses if the case of work-related addiction was won at trial.
As the case would have been expensive for the insurer to try in light of the coroner’s autopsy report, involving multiple experts and witnesses, the parties settled for almost full value $35,000.
