The Biggest Loser: How to Handle Requests for Causally Related Bariatric Bypass Surgery

Under the New York State workers’ compensation law, an employer or carrier “shall promptly provide for an injured employee such medical, surgical, optometric or other attendance of treatment . . . for such period as the nature of the injury or the process of recovery may require.”  This is a pretty general requirement, but it opens the door to a new question: what happens when an injured worker requires back surgery, but is not a candidate because he or she is overweight? They have two …

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