Is Damaged Breast Implant Covered by Workers Compensation

Florida Court Affirms Award to Replace Damaged Breast Implant

Continuing a recent trend of cases, a Florida appellate court has awarded the cost of replacing an employee’s breast implant that was ruptured during a work-related incident and it refused to apportion a portion of the cost to the employee where medical evidence suggested the age of the implant was a dominant factor in the rupture [Mullins v. 7-Eleven, Inc., 5 So. 3d 35 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2009)].

An independent medical examiner (IME) testified that the work-related accident caused 25% of the partial rupture of the implant, while the remaining 75% was causally-related to the aged or defective condition of the implant. The judge of compensation claims determined the work-related accident was the major contributing cause of the partial rupture of the implant and apportioned 75% of the benefits related to the treatment pursuant to section 440.15(5)(b) of the Florida Statutes.

The appellate court determined that the judge’s finding that the breast implants were prosthetic devices was correct. Apportionment was not appropriate, however, since the employee did not have a preexisting disease, anomaly, or medical diagnosis; rather, it was her prosthetic breast implants that were alleged to have the preexisting condition of being aged. The court drew an analogy with a hypothetical worker whose glasses are broken in the scope of employment. Larson’s Workers Compensation Law See Ch. 55, § 55.04 .5.3. http://www.lexisnexis.com/community/workerscompensationlaw/

Copyright 2010 LexisNexis. All rights reserved. This material is excerpted from Larson’s Workers Compensation Law. Reprinted with permission

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