Legal Round Table 3/18/2016 Neysa Lujan, Esq. BTB Chris Elmore, Esq. Elmore Law Tony Couture, Esq. BurqueLawyers.com

Neysa Lujan, Esq. Workers' Compensation Law Attorney St. Mary's University School of Law, J. D., 2010 University of New Mexico, B.S., 2005 New Mexico United States District Court, New Mexico United States Court of Appeals,10th Circuit State Bar of New Mexico New Mexico Defense Lawyers Association American Bar Association Albuquerque Bar Association Defense Research Institute Hispanic National Bar Association New Mexico Women's Bar Association New Mexico Hispanic Bar Association I obtained my undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of New Mexico in I received my juris doctorate in 2010 and served as a law clerk for the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office in Las Vegas, New Mexico. I was with the Navarez Law Firm, P.A. before joining Butt Thornton & Baehr PC in 2012.

Chris Elmore, Esq. Christopher Elmore’s practice is devoted primarily to defending Employers and Insurers in Workers’ Compensation matters. Mr. Elmore is a member of the Workers’ Compensation Association and was a featured speaker at the 2013 and 2015 Annual Conferences, discussing primary and secondary psychological impairment claims and effective claim handling techniques. Mr. Elmore is a frequent speaker at various CLEs and regularly provides case-law updates, training, and presentations to his clients on evolving areas of the law. Mr. Elmore graduated magna cum laude from Texas Tech University School of Law. During law school Mr. Elmore was awarded CALI Legal Excellence awards in Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, and Law Practice Technology, and American Jurisprudence awards for Contracts, Criminal Law, Employment Discrimination, and Trial and Appellate Procedure. Mr. Elmore graduated in the top 10% of his class and was awarded membership into the Order of the Coif. Mr. Elmore was also recently named as a Southwest “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers, an award given to less than 2.5% of attorneys in Arizona and New Mexico

Tony Couture, Esq. Workers' Compensation Law Attorney Regular speaker at various CLEs and events on topics related to New Mexico Workers' Compensation Law – Southwest Super Lawyer. Petty Officer Untied States Coast Guard, 1992 Associates Degree of Nursing, 1996, Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute Bachelor of Science Computer Science, 2003, College of Santa Fe Juris Doctor 2007, UNM School of Law Couture Law, Butt Thornton & Baehr, BurqueLawyers.com P.C.

New Legislation Injuries caused By The Willfulness or Intention of Worker Are Noncompensable Old - No compensation shall become due or payable from any employer under the terms of the Workers' Compensation Act in event such injury was occasioned by the intoxication of such worker or willfully suffered by him or intentionally inflicted by himself New – No compensation shall become due or payable from any employer under the terms of the Workers’ Compensation Act in the event such injury was willfully suffered by the worker or intentionally inflicted by the worker.

New Legislation Reduction in Compensation When Alcohol or Drugs Contribute to Injury or Death Old Reduction in compensation when alcohol or drugs contribute to injury or death. The compensation otherwise payable a worker pursuant to the Workers' Compensation Act shall be reduced ten percent in cases in which the injury to or death of a worker is not occasioned by the intoxication of the worker as stated in Section NMSA 1978 or occasioned solely by drug influence as described in Section NMSA 1978, but voluntary intoxication or being under the influence of a depressant, stimulant or hallucinogenic drug as defined in the New Mexico Drug, Device and Cosmetic Act [Chapter 26, Article 1 NMSA 1978] or under the influence of a narcotic drug as defined in the Controlled Substances Act [Chapter 30, Article 31 NMSA 1978], unless the drug was dispensed to the person upon the prescription of a practitioner licensed by law to prescribe the drug or administered to the person by any person authorized by a licensed practitioner to administer the drug, is a contributing cause to the injury or death. Test results used as evidence of intoxication or drug influence shall not be considered in making a determination of intoxication or drug influence unless the test and testing procedures conform to the federal department of transportation "procedures for transportation workplace drug and alcohol testing programs" and the test is performed by a laboratory certified to do the testing by the federal department of transportation.

New Legislation Reduction in Compensation When Alcohol or Drugs Contribute to Injury or Death New Reduction in compensation when alcohol or drugs contribute to injury or death. SEE HANDOUT

Opioids – Requiring Practitioners to Obtain and Review Reports From the Prescription Monitoring Program Not a comp specific statute, but will have impact on comp providers. The California Workers’ Compensation Institute reported in 2011 that 3% of the prescribing physicians accounted for 55% of all opioid prescriptions. in-workers-comp-whats-next

Opioids – Requiring Practitioners to Obtain and Review Reports From the Prescription Monitoring Program

SB 263 requires: 1.Before a practitioner prescribes or dispenses an opioid for the first time to a patient, the practitioner shall obtain and review a report from the state’s prescription monitoring program for such patient for the previous 12 calendar months. 2.If they have access, they shall also search other adjacent states databases.

Opioids – Requiring Practitioners to Obtain and Review Reports From the Prescription Monitoring Program SB 263 requires: 3. The practitioner shall review a new report every three months that the patient is receiving opioids. 4.Keep documentation of review of the reports in the patient’s medical records. 5.These rules do not apply to hospice or nursing facilities.

Questions and Answers