Code of Maine Rules
90 - INDEPENDENT AGENCIES
351 - WORKERS' COMPENSATION BOARD
Chapter 1 - PAYMENT OF BENEFITS
Section 351-1-10 - Cancer Presumption for Firefighters
Current through 2024-38, September 18, 2024
This rule applies to all cases now pending before the Workers' Compensation Board in which the evidence has not closed and in which the statute applies. For all dates of injury occurring before the effective date of these rules, sub-section 1 applies. For all dates of injury occurring on and after the effective date of these rules, sub-section 2 applies.
1. If a firefighter claims that he has contracted a cancer defined in §328B(1)(A) , the firefighter shall be considered to have undergone a standard, medically acceptable test for evidence of the cancer for which the presumption is sought or evidence of the medical conditions derived from the disease, which test failed to indicate the presence or condition of the cancer for which the presumption is sought, if, during the time of employment as a firefighter, the firefighter underwent a standard physical exam with blood work and the examination and the blood work were not positive for the cancer for which the presumption is sought, or if the examination or blood work were positive for the cancer for which the presumption is sought, follow up tests ordered by the physician conducting the physical were determined to be negative for the cancer for which the presumption is sought.
2. If a firefighter claims that he has contracted a cancer defined in §328B(1)(A), the firefighter shall be considered to have undergone a standard, medically acceptable test for evidence of the cancer for which the presumption is sought or evidence of the medical conditions derived from the disease, which test failed to indicate the presence or condition of the cancer for which the presumption is sought, if, during the time of employment as a firefighter, the firefighter underwent a physical examination which included a complete history and physical examination, which included a history of malignancies regarding the firefighter's blood-related parents, grandparents or siblings, and a history of the firefighter's previous malignancies. The physical examination shall be considered complete if it included a lymph node and neurologic exam, a breast examination, and a testicular examination if a male. To be considered complete, an examination shall include blood count testing (CBC), metastolic profile (CMP) testing, and urinalysis testing. If a female firefighter is 40 years or older, the examination should include a mammography, and if a female firefighter is 50 years or older, a colonoscopy. If a male firefighter is 50 years or older, the examination shall include prostate examination and a colonoscopy. If any abnormality is disclosed during the examination or blood work for the cancer for which the presumption is sought and further testing reveals that the cancer for which the presumption is sought is not present, the examination shall be considered adequate for purpose of the application of the presumption. For the purpose of determining the completeness of an exam or testing for application of the presumption, the firefighter's age at the time of the exam is determinative.
3. If an examination or blood work is determined to be incomplete or positive for one or more cancers but not for the cancer for which the presumption is sought and the examination and blood work were complete and not positive for the cancer for which the presumption is sought, the firefighter is entitled to the presumption provided the remaining requirements of §328-B have been met.
