Carrier's Failure to Issue 'Pay and Investigate' Notice Barred it from later Denying Worker's Claim

The 1st District Court of Appeal on Friday ruled that an employer who authorized care for a worker's back injury could not retroactively deny the compensability of his accident after a doctor reported that the major contributing cause of the worker's need for medical treatment was his preexisting spine condition. Florida Statutes Section 440.20(4) gives an employer or carrier up to 120 days after an accident to decide whether to accept or deny liability for it, but the employer must pay benefits to the worker during this time. If an employer wishes to avail itself of this statutory r...