Law enforcement officers with qualifying occupational disease claims must prove certain exposure facts, and claimants must report sudden exposures within 5 days or long-term exposure diagnoses within 90 days.
(a) If a law enforcement officer who qualifies for benefits under the provisions of this article suffers disability as a result of a law enforcement officer’s occupational disease, his or her disability shall be compensable the same as any service-connected disability under any law which provides benefits for the law enforcement officer or, if a state law enforcement officer, under the state Employees’ Retirement System, the same as if injured in the line of duty. If a law enforcement officer who qualifies for benefits under the provisions of this article dies as a result of a law enforcement officer’s occupational disease, his or her death shall be compensable to the same extent as the death of a law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty; provided, that this article shall not apply to any municipality which has elected to be covered by the workers’ compensation laws of this state. (b) In order to qualify for benefits under the provisions of this article based on a law enforcement officer’s occupational disease caused by cancer, HIV, or hepatitis, the law enforcement officer shall demonstrate by sufficient evidence all of the following: (1) That the disease was caused by significant exposure to an agent known to cause the disease according to current medical literature and research. (2) The exposure occurred while the claimant was acting in the line and scope of employment as a law enforcement officer. (3) The exposure to the causative agent must be in excess of that experienced by the general population. (c) Any sudden exposure to a causative agent from a single event shall be reported by a claimant to his or her supervisor within five days of the occurrence of exposure if it is reasonable to believe the claimant was aware of both his or her exposure to the agent and of the hazardous and harmful effects of the sudden exposure to the agent. (d) If an occupational disease results from long term exposure to a causative agent, rather than from a single event, a claimant shall notify his or her supervisor, within 90 days of a conclusive medical diagnosis of the occupational disease and the determination by a medical doctor that the diagnosis is, or may be, linked to the exposure.