Workers? Comp Must Pay for Injured Worker’s Medical Cannabis

Doctors prescribed medical cannabis for pain from a worker’s work-related back injury but workers’ comp refused to pay for it. The New Brunswick Workers’ Comp Appeals Tribunal disagreed with the decision, finding that the WHSCC had ‘ignored the opinions of treating physicians’ and ‘cherry picked’ the medical evidence to support its denial. The evidence showed that: i. the worker had neuropathic pain; ii. the other medications she tried didn’t work and produced side effects; iii. medical cannabis did work for her; and iv. the therapeutic benefits weren’t ‘disproportionately expensive’ [20198914 (Re), 2019 CanLII 84889 (NB WCAT), September 13, 2019].