| 12 | 13 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1 |
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| 13 | 14 | | AN ACT AMENDING THE WORKERS' COMPENSATION ACT DEFINITION OF "INJURY 2 |
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| 14 | 15 | | AND PERSONAL INJURY " REGARDING BREAKAGE OR DAMAGE TO 3 |
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| 15 | 16 | | EYEGLASSES AND HEARING AIDS . 4 |
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| 16 | 17 | | The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts: 5 |
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| 17 | 18 | | SECTION 1. G.S. 97-2(6) reads as rewritten: 6 |
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| 18 | 19 | | "(6) Injury. – "Injury and personal injury" shall mean only injury by accident 7 |
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| 19 | 20 | | arising out of and in the course of the employment, and shall not include a 8 |
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| 20 | 21 | | disease in any form, except where it results naturally and unavoidably from 9 |
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| 21 | 22 | | the accident. With respect to back injuries, however, where injury to the back 10 |
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| 22 | 23 | | arises out of and in the course of the employment and is the direct result of a 11 |
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| 23 | 24 | | specific traumatic incident of the work assigned, "injury by accident" shall be 12 |
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| 24 | 25 | | construed to include any disabling physical injury to the back arising out of 13 |
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| 25 | 26 | | and causally related to such incident. Injury shall include breakage or damage 14 |
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| 26 | 27 | | to eyeglasses, hearing aids, dentures, or other prosthetic devices which 15 |
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| 27 | 28 | | function as part of the body; provided, however, that eyeglasses and hearing 16 |
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| 28 | 29 | | aids will not be replaced, repaired, or otherwise compensated for unless injury 17 |
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| 29 | 30 | | to them is incidental to a compensable injury.body." 18 |
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| 30 | 31 | | SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies to claims for 19 |
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| 31 | 32 | | workers' compensation benefits arising prior to, on, or after that date. 20 |
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