State News : Louisiana

NWCDN is a network of law firms dedicated to protecting employers in workers’ compensation claims.


NWCDN Members regularly post articles and summary judgements in workers’ compensations law in your state.  


Select a state from the dropdown menu below to scroll through the state specific archives for updates and opinions on various workers’ compensation laws in your state.


Contact information for NWCDN members is also located on the state specific links in the event you have additional questions or your company is seeking a workers’ compensation lawyer in your state.


Louisiana

DEGAN, BLANCHARD & NASH PLC

  504-529-3337

In Burgess v. Sewerage & Water Board of New Orleans, 2016-2267 (La. 06/29/2017) the Louisiana Supreme Court has held that the choice of pharmacy in a workers’ compensation case belongs to the employer, and not the employee.  Resolving a split in the state’s circuit courts of appeal, the Supreme Court acknowledged that La. R.S. 23:1203 obligates an employer “to furnish all necessary drugs” to the injured employee. The statute does not, however, directly address who has the right to choose the pharmacy to dispense the drugs.  The Court noted that the Legislature could have explicitly given employees the choice of pharmacy, just as it gave employees the choice of physician under the statutory scheme, but the legislature did not. The Court reasoned that given the statutory ambiguity (and because prescription medications need only be furnished in a timely manner regardless of where they come from), as well as the cost-consciousness implicit in the statute, employers should control pharmacy dispensing.