Claimant's Claim of 'False Negative' Testing Rejected by Court

HARRISBURG, Pa. - A woman whose expert physician testified that she was one of the 20 percent of patients who had a false negative on latex allergy tests is not entitled to workers' compensation benefits for alleged illness from airborne latex particles, a Pennsylvania appellate court has affirmed. Gerhard v. Workers' Compensation Appeal Board, No. 1785 CD 2008 (Pa. Cmnwlth. Ct.).

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania held in an April 9 opinion that a workers' compensation judge and appeal board did not commit error in rejecting the petition by medial technologist and part-time instructor Michele Gerhard.

Gerhard asserted that …