Bills Would Allow PTSD Claims by First Responders

Bills introduced in Alabama and South Carolina would allow first responders in both states to receive workers’ compensation benefits for post-traumatic stress disorder. Alabama law excludes from the definition of a compensable injury “a mental disorder or mental injury that has neither been produced nor been proximately caused by some physical injury on the body.” House Bill 44, by Rep. Matt Simpson, R-Daphne, would declare that the prohibition doesn’t apply to “emergency workers.” The bill would define emergency workers to include law enforcement officers...