Can an employer legally require you to change maintenance medications for Epilepsy??

[JenniferOcean]

My fiance had a series of serious seizures approximately 8 months ago which he almost died from. Initally, he was on STD, but once he had been seizure free for two months the STD was discontinued and he returned back to work. My fiance is an employee of an oil company and he is routinely required to go offshore. On his last trip offshore, he presented his medications for check-in to the rig medic and was told that his Lamictal, which is his anti-convulsant, was not allowed on the rig. This medication is a maintenance medication and must be taken twice daily to prevent him from having any more seizures. He was then sent home and told he could not go back offshore until this was changed. We have seen both his primary care physician and his neurologist about this issue and neither can see how this particular drug could be a problem as is known to have some of the least side-effects in a class of drugs known for side-effects. My fiancé has been on this medication since his diagnosis and has remained seizure free. The doctors have agreed to medically clear him to return to duty immediately as long as he does not switch medications. If he does, then he will have to wait a month to make sure that there are no adverse effects from the change. Further complicating things is that his company wants to put him on unpaid leave in the interim, even going so far as to suggest he should try to get STD again which will not get approved because his doctors say he is okay. If he did have more seizures as a result of switching medications, would his company carry any liability as he was given a choice between changing this medication and keeping his job?

Just an additional note, if it was a medication such as Xanax, Valium, or painpills of any kind, I would understand and we would obviously comply immediately. This is his Lamictal though. You can't get high off of Lamictal!

Any and all suggestions/comments are greatly appreciated!

 

[army judge]

My fiance had a series of serious seizures approximately 8 months ago which he almost died from. Initally, he was on STD, but once he had been seizure free for two months the STD was discontinued and he returned back to work. My fiance is an employee of an oil company and he is routinely required to go offshore. On his last trip offshore, he presented his medications for check-in to the rig medic and was told that his Lamictal, which is his anti-convulsant, was not allowed on the rig. This medication is a maintenance medication and must be taken twice daily to prevent him from having any more seizures. He was then sent home and told he could not go back offshore until this was changed. We have seen both his primary care physician and his neurologist about this issue and neither can see how this particular drug could be a problem as is known to have some of the least side-effects in a class of drugs known for side-effects. My fiancé has been on this medication since his diagnosis and has remained seizure free. The doctors have agreed to medically clear him to return to duty immediately as long as he does not switch medications. If he does, then he will have to wait a month to make sure that there are no adverse effects from the change. Further complicating things is that his company wants to put him on unpaid leave in the interim, even going so far as to suggest he should try to get STD again which will not get approved because his doctors say he is okay. If he did have more seizures as a result of switching medications, would his company carry any liability as he was given a choice between changing this medication and keeping his job?

Just an additional note, if it was a medication such as Xanax, Valium, or painpills of any kind, I would understand and we would obviously comply immediately. This is his Lamictal though. You can't get high off of Lamictal!

Any and all suggestions/comments are greatly appreciated!

I am an attorney, not a physician.

Therefore, take this opinion as one without proper medical credentialing to practice medicine.

I suppose the oil company is worried not so much about the type of drug he's prescribed, but the underlying medical problem from which he's suffering.

I also suspect they feel the drug can cause him not to be as alert as would be required to work safely in a high speed, high stress, dangerous off shore oil rig.

That is just a layperson's guess.

I suggest you ask him to arrange an appointment with an oil company physician, or speak to someone in HR about setting up such an appointment.

It seems the company doesn't feel he's fit for duty off shore on one of their rigs.

If something should go wrong, and he would get hurt, or blacked out and hurt others, setting off a huge oil spill; well you can see why they are cautious.

He has no right to any job.

He should try to arrange a transfer, or get their medical department to certify him as fit to return to off shore oil rig duty.

Barring that eventuality, he might want to work with HR to see if he can do other work in a safer, on shore environment.

But, this is the time for him to behave very mildly, meekly, and politely.

He will gain nothing me being uncivil, or surly.

Not that he is, mind you, but its always best to be polite and always ask nicely, never demand what you want others to give you.



That will take time, and probably require several medical tests, exams, and assessments.

 

[Betty3]

I agree that the employer may be concerned about the medical condition the medication is being taken for. Also, Lamictal may in some cases cause blurred vision and/or impair thinking or reactions. They may be concerned about him taking it while working on an offshore oil rig.

As army judge suggested, he might want to talk to HR & see if something can't be worked out.

 

[cbg]

To answer your questions literally, no, the company cannot legally require that he change his medication. But they can legally refuse to let him work as long as he is taking certain medication.

 

[Betty3]

Agree, the co. can't literally stop him from taking his current medication - that's his decision after talking to his doctor. The co. can though not allow him to take it while working on an offshore oil rig. This would be legal.

He needs to speak to HR as suggested previously to see if they might have another position he can do while on the medication if he wants/needs to continue to take it.

 

[JenniferOcean]

Thank you all for taking the time to reply my question. We have been working closely with HR at his company to try and get this ironed out.

The company has no issues with Jesse's epilepsy in general as long as it is under control. My fiance and I both agree that he must be stable before working on a rig. Particularly as he specializes in unltra deep-water drilling and help is a long way off if something were to go wrong. His job does not require him to actually work on the rig floor. He is not a roughneck. When he is on the rig, it is his job to monitor the drilling process from a the trailer that controls the drill and other tools.

We have been to visit both his Primary Care Doctor and his Neurologist. It just so happens that my fiance's Primary Care Physician also owns a medical consulting company that trains medics to work on the rigs so he is uniquely qualified to help us get my fiance's medical issues straightened out. As a rig doctor, my primary care physician struggled to understand why Lamictal was a hazard when so many other medications that should have been on the list were not. Both doctors agreed to change the medication, but noted it was against their better judgement as he has been stable for so long on the Lamictal. We ended up switching it to another anti-convulsant called Vimpat. This drug is not on their list of banned substances, but it does have a much higher incidence of drowsiness/dizziness than Lamictal. In fact it is a categorized as a C-V, meaning it is controlled and in the same class as codeine cough syrup. And THIS drug is allowed!!

My main concern through all of this is, of course, his health. He can find another job easily, but he needs to be healthy. When his doctors agreed to change his medication, both cautioned that there is a possibility that he could start having seizures again. As it was explained to me, people respond differently to anti-convulsants and there's no way of knowing if the new one will work for my fiance until he tries it. My biggest question is one of liability. As his employer, if they make him change his medicine and his condition worsens, do they have any liability?

 

[cbg]

No. The reason being that it is his choice to change it. They cannot force him to do so, even though they can restrict him from working. It is his decision to make to make the choice instead of accepting the restrictions.

 

[Betty3]

His employer isn't making him change his medication. They are just not allowing him to work while taking it. It would be his decision whether to change or not - a personal decision. No employer liability here.