Sec. 31-294d. Medical and surgical aid; hospital and nursing service. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 31-294d. Medical and surgical aid; hospital and nursing service. (a)(1) The employer, as soon as the employer has knowledge of an injury, shall provide a competent physician or surgeon to attend the injured employee and, in addition, shall furnish any medical and surgical aid or hospital and nursing service, including medical rehabilitation services and prescription drugs, as the physician or surgeon deems reasonable or necessary. The employer, any insurer acting on behalf of the employer, or any other entity acting on behalf of the employer or insurer shall be responsible for paying the cost of such prescription drugs directly to the provider.

      (2) If the injured employee is a local or state police officer, state marshal, judicial marshal, correction officer, emergency medical technician, paramedic, ambulance driver, firefighter, or active member of a volunteer fire company or fire department engaged in volunteer duties, who has been exposed in the line of duty to blood or bodily fluids that may carry blood-borne disease, the medical and surgical aid or hospital and nursing service provided by the employer shall include any relevant diagnostic and prophylactic procedure for and treatment of any blood-borne disease.

      (b) The employee shall select the physician or surgeon from an approved list of physicians and surgeons prepared by the chairman of the Workers' Compensation Commission. If the employee is unable to make the selection, the employer shall do so, subject to ratification by the employee or his next of kin. If the employer has a full-time staff physician or if a physician is available on call, the initial treatment required immediately following the injury may be rendered by that physician, but the employee may thereafter select his own physician as provided by this chapter for any further treatment without prior approval of the commissioner.

      (c) The commissioner may, without hearing, at the request of the employer or the injured employee, when good reason exists, or on his own motion, authorize or direct a change of physician or surgeon or hospital or nursing service provided pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.

      (d) The pecuniary liability of the employer for the medical and surgical service required by this section shall be limited to the charges that prevail in the same community or similar communities for similar treatment of injured persons of a like standard of living when the similar treatment is paid for by the injured person. The liability of the employer for hospital service shall be the amount it actually costs the hospital to render the service, as determined by the commissioner, except in the case of state humane institutions, the liability of the employer shall be the per capita cost as determined by the Comptroller under the provisions of section 17b-223. All disputes concerning liability for hospital services in workers' compensation cases shall be settled by the commissioner in accordance with this chapter.

      (e) If the employer fails to promptly provide a physician or surgeon or any medical and surgical aid or hospital and nursing service as required by this section, the injured employee may obtain a physician or surgeon, selected from the approved list prepared by the chairman, or such medical and surgical aid or hospital and nursing service at the expense of the employer.

      (P.A. 91-32, S. 12, 41; 91-339, S. 48, 55; P.A. 98-160; P.A. 00-99, S. 81, 154; P.A. 01-85, S. 2, 3.)

      History: P.A. 91-339 amended Subsecs. (b) and (e) to change "commissioners" to "chairman of the workers' compensation commission"; P.A. 98-160 amended Subsec. (a) to provide specific diagnosis and treatment for certain employees exposed in the line of duty to blood or bodily fluids; P.A. 00-99 replaced reference to high sheriff, chief deputy sheriff, deputy sheriff and special deputy sheriff with state marshal and judicial marshal in Subsec. (a), effective December 1, 2000; P.A. 01-85 amended Subsec. (a) by dividing existing provisions into Subdivs. (1) and (2), adding provisions in Subdiv. (1) re furnishing prescription drugs and payment of prescription drug costs directly to provider and making technical changes, effective January 1, 2002.

      Cited. 228 C. 1. Sec. 31-294 (repealed) cited. Id. Cited. 237 C. 1. Cited. 241 C. 692.

      Subsec. (c):

      Although workers' compensation commissioner, acting within her discretion under statute, designated a new treating physician for plaintiff, commissioner did not have authority to make specific orders regarding a treatment plan to be imposed on a treating physician without that physician's acquiescence. 94 CA 334.