Worker's Fatal Drug Overdose on Painkillers Was Compensable

A Texas employee's death from an overdose of pain medication -- described as "an East Texas cocktail" by defense counsel -- prescribed for his on-the-job injury was compensable, a state appellate court ruled.Defense counsel Dana M. Gannon of Smith & Carr said on Thursday that the case, Commerce & Industry Insurance Co. v.  Ferguson-Stewart et al., No. 13-10-00554-CV, presented an issue of first impression for the court, although it addressed a "problem" that was "not unique ... certainly not in Texas." Hydrocodone, the drug which killed Bruce Stewart, is colloquially referred ...