Another MCS case accepted!

Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) is a complex condition which is markedly similar to Darkroom Disease.  They may in fact be the same condition, which is useful for us as MCS is slowly gaining acceptance in the scientific community.   DD research (and compensation) has tended to focus on asthma only, whereas MCS is rarely accepted by WCB as a compensable condition despite the fact that a consensus definition has been in place for some years.  A recent British Columbia WCAT decision is one of the best I've seen and while compensations boards are not bound by precedents, it doesn't hurt to have a growing number of MCS cases accepted in our profession:  "The overall evidence indicates that MCS continues to be controversial, at least insofar as establishing universal diagnostic criteria on which such an illness ought to be based, and in terms of fully understanding the pathogenesis of the associated complaints. Nevertheless, I accept the evidence reasonably establishes that MCS is an illness that provokes symptoms that arise due to increased sensitivity to non-specific irritants. .... MCS is not an occupational disease that has been recognized by the Board by inclusion in Schedule B or by regulation of general application. Nevertheless, pursuant to item #26.04 of the Rehabilitation Services and Claims Manual, Volume I (RSCM I) a disease that has not been previously designated or recognized can be accepted on a case-specific basis.....In summary, I conclude the worker suffers from MCS that arose as a compensable consequence of her 1995 occupational exposure [to darkroom chemicals]."

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