Ex-Mass. chemist pleads not guilty to obstruction
Recent Cases
A former Massachusetts chemist accused of faking test results at a state drug lab has pleaded not guilty to four counts of obstruction of justice in a scandal that could jeopardize thousands of drug convictions.
Annie Dookhan was indicted on a total of 27 charges accusing her of fabricating test results and tampering with drug evidence while testing substances in criminal cases.
The 35-year-old Dookhan was arraigned Wednesday on four obstruction counts in Brockton Superior Court. She was scheduled to be arraigned later Wednesday on additional charges in Fall River Superior Court.
An estimated 200 convicted defendants have been released from jail and had their cases put on hold while their legal challenges are pending.
Authorities shut down the lab in August.
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Workers’ Compensation Subrogation of Administrative Fees and Costs
When a worker covered by workers’ compensation makes a claim against a third party, the workers’ compensation insurance retains the right to subrogate against any recovery from that third party for all benefits paid to or on behalf of a claimant injured at work. When subrogating for more than basic medical and indemnity benefits, the Texas workers’ compensation subrogation statute provides that “the net amount recovered by a claimant in a third‑party action shall be used to reimburse the carrier for benefits, including medical benefits that have been paid for the compensable injury.” TX Labor Code § 417.002.
In fact, all 50 states provide for similar subrogation. However, none of them precisely outlines which payments or costs paid by a compensation carrier constitute “compensation” and can be recovered. The result is industry-wide confusion and an ongoing debate and argument with claimants’ attorneys over what can and can’t be included in a carrier’s lien for recovery purposes.
In addition to medical expenses, death benefits, funeral costs and/or indemnity benefits for lost wages and loss of earning capacity resulting from a compensable injury, workers’ compensation insurance carriers also expend considerable dollars for case management costs, medical bill audit fees, rehabilitation benefits, nurse case worker fees, and other similar fees. They also incur other expenses in conjunction with the handling and adjusting of workers’ compensation claims. Workers’ compensation carriers typically assert, of course, that, they are entitled to reimbursement for such expenditures when it recovers its workers’ compensation lien. Injured workers and their attorneys disagree.