Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2014

Rebel Distributors Corp. v. LUBA Casualty Insurance Co.

Rebel Distributors Corp. v. LUBA Casualty Insurance Co.
Louisiana Court of Appeal · Decided April 2, 2014 · Amy, Assigns, Exceptions, Peters, Reasons, Thibodeaux
137 So. 3d 103; 12 La.App. 3 Cir. 910; 2014 WL 1327582; 2014 La. App. LEXIS 876 (Southern Reporter, Third Series)

Rebel Distributors Corp. v. LUBA Casualty Insurance Co.

Opinion of the Court

PETERS, J.

| iFor the reasons assigned in Rebel Distributors, Inc. v. LUBA Workers’ Compensation, 12-909 (La.App. 3 Cir. 4/2/14), 137 So.3d 91, 2014 WL 1317609, we affirm the judgment of the workers’ compensation judge in all respects. We assess costs of this appeal equally between the plaintiff, *104Rebel Distributors Corp., Inc. d/b/a Physician Partner and Pharmacy Partner, and the defendants, LUBA Casualty Insurance Company and Metro Boating.

AFFIRMED.

THIBODEAUX, Chief Judge, dissents in part and assigns written reasons, with the exceptions of No. 12-923 and No. 12-924.

Dissenting Opinion

THIBODEAUX, Chief Judge,

dissenting in part.

IjThe majority affirms the judgment of the Office of Workers’ Compensation limiting the payment of the outstanding pharmacy bill to $750.00 pursuant to La.R.S. 23:1142. In my view, that is erroneous.

Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1142(B)(1) and (B)(2)(a) repeatedly refer to “diagnostic testing” and “treatment.” It does not, as the majority opinion concedes, include prescription medication as part of nonemergency diagnostic testing or treatment. The diagnostic testing and treatment are the only matters that are subject to the $750.00 cap, not medication.

The more specific provisions of Part II of Chapter 10 entitled “Benefits” should properly apply. Louisiana Revised Statutes 23:1203(A)(B)(D) and (E) all specifically refer to “drugs,” “supplies,” or “services.” The majority, in my view, is interpreting La.R.S. 23:1203 much too re-strietively and focuses undue attention on references to “employer” and “employee.”

For the foregoing reasons, I respectfully dissent in part.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.