Evaluating Covid-19 Injury Claims with a Focus on Workers Compensation

COVID-19 illness can cause multi-organ illness Some States have passed legislation granting a rebuttable presumption of causation by workplace exposure in certain occupations This paper summarizes methodology for evaluating claimants utilizing known science and as well as information from the American Medical Association Guides resources Address correspondence to: Mark H Hyman, MD, 10780 Santa Monica Blvd , Suite 408, Los Angeles, California 90025 (mark@hymanmd net) Funding: None to Disclose Conflict of Interest: The authors receive royalties from the sale of some books from the AMA which a reader might consult or purchase based on this article Ethical or IRB considerations: None to Disclose Clinical significance: Every citizen is aware of Covid-19 illness, caused by SARS-CoV-2 Classifying Covid-19 as an occupational illness is controversial;with several US states passing legislation granting causation to some occupations (e g Health Care Workers and First Responders) However, evaluating physicians will need guidance on how to proceed with these claims Copyright � 2020 by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine