Medicolegal Phases of Occupational Diseases: An Outline of Theory and Practice

Extension of workmen's compensation to include indemnification for disability arising from occupational disease is of comparatively recent origin. Nevertheless there are sound indications already that this development has come to be a major preoccupation in the field of medical jurisprudence. Even a satisfactory definition of what constitutes an occupational disease is extraordinarily hard to reach. When one adds to that fundamental difficulty the associated problems of etiology, disability rating and adjudication, the whole picture becomes one of fascinating complexity. In the construction of a work on occupational disease compensation, therefore, there is at once the necessity of picking out and emphasizing those principles which have received the imprint of judicial and authoritative interpretation. In these respects the author has succeeded admirably. The subject matter, all closely constructed after the handbook style, is treated under four major headings: industry, insurance, medicine and law. The first section deals largely with lists and