2012 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 23 — Labor and worker's compensation
RS 23:1124 — Refusal to submit to examination; effect on right to compensation

§1124. Refusal to submit to examination; effect on right to compensation

A. If the employee refuses to submit himself to a medical examination at the behest of the employer or an examination conducted pursuant to R.S. 23:1123, or in anywise obstructs the same, his right to compensation and to take or prosecute any further proceedings under this Chapter shall be suspended until the examination takes place. The employee shall receive at least fourteen days written notice prior to the examination. When a right to compensation is suspended no compensation shall be payable in respect to the period of suspension.

B. An employer or insurer who seeks to compel an employee's compliance with a medical examination shall be granted an expedited hearing. The workers' compensation judge shall set a hearing date for the matter within three days of receiving the employer's or insurer's motion. The hearing shall be held not less than ten nor more than thirty days after the employee, or his attorney, receives notice, delivered by certified or registered mail, of the employer's or insurer's motion. The workers' compensation judge shall provide notice of the hearing date to the employer and insurer at the same time, and in the same manner, that notice of the hearing date is provided to the employee or his attorney. For the purposes of this Section, an employer or insurer need not submit the dispute on the medical examination to mediation, nor go through a pretrial conference, before obtaining a hearing. The hearing shall be conducted as a rule to show cause. Unless the employee can show good cause for his refusal or obstruction of the medical examination, the workers' compensation judge shall suspend the employee's compensation and prosecution rights according to Subsection A of this Section.

Acts 1997, No. 393, §1.