An injured worker failed to convince an appeals court on Wednesday that his workers’ compensation insurance was required to pay for a medical marijuana evaluation or reimbursement of the drug.
In Jones v. Grace Healthcare upheld the Florida District Court of Appeals, First District, the verdict of a compensation claims judge that an insurer’s obligation to pay for or facilitate the consumption of marijuana by an injured worker would expose the insurer to criminal liability.
Patrick Shawn Jones injured his lower back in a work accident in 2001 and received pain therapy for chronic pain syndrome. In 2017, he asked to be referred to a doctor who could prescribe him medical marijuana as an oral pain reliever alternative. The insurer denied the request, and the compensation judge concluded that Florida statutes, which state marijuana is non-refundable, absolve the insurer and employer of any obligation to pay for the medical marijuana. The judge also found that the law prohibits reimbursement of reviews required to obtain a marijuana prescription. Mr. Jones appealed.
The appeals court ruled that the judge rightly is marijuana non-refundable under Florida law and that a marijuana purchase assessment is also “undeniably non-refundable”.
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