"A 'Shot' at Surgery: GLP-1 Medications and Surgical Clearance in Workers’ Compensation Claims"
Swift Currie attorney, William Anthony, authored an article for WorkersCompensation.com discussing when Wegovy, Zepbound or another GLP-1 medication is sufficiently connected to a compensable injury and proposed surgery to fall within the employer and insurer’s medical responsibility.
Anthony discussed how Georgia law supplies a framework but not a GLP-1-specific answer. The treatment prescribed by the authorized treating physician must relate to the on-the-job injury and be reasonably necessary for one of those treatment purposes and it must also be treatment the State Board of Workers’ Compensation finds reasonably required.
Other states have addressed similar requests more directly but not uniformly. In State ex rel. Miller v. Industrial Commission, the Ohio Supreme Court held that obesity did not have to become a separately allowed condition before a supervised weight-loss program could be considered for reimbursement.
“The quality of the medical record – particularly the documented relationship between the requested medication, surgical requirement and treatment of the compensable injury – will often matter more than the medication label itself,” said Anthony.
To view the full article, you may click here.
