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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. James E. Casorio, Jr. |
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House passes Casorio bill to protect more law enforcement personnel
HARRISBURG, Nov. 14 – The state House of Representatives today passed legislation introduced by state Rep. James E. Casorio Jr., D-Westmoreland, that would make it easier for several categories of state law enforcement personnel to collect workers’ compensation benefits when they contract hepatitis C on the job.
Casorio’s bill (H.B. 1025) would classify hepatitis C as an occupational disease for state Fish and Boat and Game Commission officers, officers of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and port authority officers in Pennsylvania.
“These employees, like other law enforcement personnel and first responders who deal with medical emergencies, are at a higher risk of contracting hepatitis C,” Casorio said. “In the unfortunate cases where these officers do contract hepatitis C, they should not have to go through a lengthy legal process to prove they were infected on the job in order to get the benefits they and their families need and deserve.”
Hepatitis C is a liver disease that is transmitted through contact with infected blood. Firefighters, police officers, emergency responders and corrections employees constantly face the possibility of exposure to hepatitis C.
A law passed in 2001 made hepatitis C an occupational disease for all of these workers; previously many of them had to spend years proving they contracted hepatitis C in the performance of their duties before they were able to collect workers’ compensation. Casorio said his bill and similar bills would add other employees who are at an increased risk of exposure to the disease to that law.
“I want to make sure the people who protect and serve the residents of Pennsylvania don’t have to fight both the disease and the bureaucracy when their service results in injury, disease or disability,” he said.
Casorio’s bill now goes to the Senate for consideration.
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CONTACT: Michael J. Herzing Fax:
717-783-6839
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