Burden Would Shift if Firefighter Cancer Bill Signed

The Colorado Legislature sent to the governor's desk a bill that shifts the burden of proof off firefighters trying to prove their cancers are occupationally caused. Gov. Bill Ritter has until June 2 to sign House Bill 1008. The bill would shift the burden of proof to the employers when a firefighter files a workers' compensation claim for treatment of cancer. The bill's language says that most cancers (except lung cancer) "shall be presumed to result from a firefighter's employment." Employers would have to show by a preponderance of the medical evidence that the cancer is not related ...