Pharmacist wins mental disorder case tied to chemo exposure, child’s autism

A British Columbia workplace tribunal has ruled in favour of a pharmacist, finding her fears of chemotherapy drugs and the possible impact on her child caused legitimate psychological harm.The Mar. 6 decision from the B.C. Workers’ Compensation Appeal Tribunal upheld an earlier ruling that the pharmacist developed a compensable mental disorder, after she linked her child’s autism diagnosis to potential workplace exposure to chemotherapy drugs she handled years earlier—though the tribunal found no definitive proof of such exposure or causation. “I find the evidence assistive in coming to my findings that her belief and reaction to learning of her child’s condition was reasonable, rational and not unforeseeable in the circumstances,” wrote tribunal vice chair Kristina Nelless in her decision. ‘Futile’ to test for contaminated surfaces?The case centred on an unnamed pharmacist who worked in an oncology department between 2012 and 2015, where she handled cytotoxic drugs—chemicals that can inhibit or prevent the function of cells, commonly used in chemotherapy treatments. Despite this, the pharmacist alleged she was not trained in safety protocols, asserting that she was never given the proper handling manual, rather compelled to learn on the job in an understaffed department. “She was allowed to wear street clothes in the chemotherapy room,” the decision reads of her claims. “She was provided with a hair net and one pair of gloves.” Her concerns intensified after an audit from the British Columbia Cancer Agency in 2014, during which she asked the auditor to test the dispensary she worked in for contamination levels. The auditor’s response? That it would be “futile,” she alleged, as all surfaces would certainly be contaminated. After reporting her concerns to her employer in 2015, she formally asked to transfer out of the chemotherapy department, as she planned to conceive and was worried about how exposure could affect a child’s development. Years later, those fears resurfaced when her second child was diagnosed with autism in June 2022. Her child would later also be diagnosed with a rare genetic condition known as Sotos syndrome, which the decision noted can result in “delayed cognitive, social and verbal skills.” Worker’s compensation claimWhen she received her child’s diagnosis, the pharmacist testified to feeling “devastated,” believing her past workplace exposure may have played a role. She took time away from work to cope with the stress and care for her child after the diagnosis, but did not return as planned, eventually applying for long-term disability in November 2022.The oncology lab disputed her claim, arguing there was no proof she had been exposed to hazardous drugs, or that any such exposure caused her child’s condition. Her former workplace also maintained that the events she cited were not “significant workplace stressors,” meaning they were neither traumatic nor sufficient enough to establish a predominant cause of her mental disorder.Tribunal rules in favour of the pharmacistAfter her claim was initially denied, then partially overturned on review and sent back for further investigation—followed by an appeal from her employer—last month the tribunal found that there was no definitive proof of exposure causing the condition. However they also found that the worker’s belief was reasonable given her knowledge of the risks and the information available to her. A registered psychologist, who assessed the pharmacist and diagnosed her with a trauma- and stressor-related disorder, testified that chemotherapy drugs are known to cause genetic mutations, and that healthcare workers handling them can be exposed through contaminated surfaces. The tribunal’s vice-chair Kristina Nelless agreed with the psychologist’s logic: “I find a reasonable person in the worker’s position would find the workplace events significantly stressful regardless that there is no definitive evidence about the worker’s actual level of exposure or whether the child’s condition was caused by any such exposure.”The tribunal found the worker’s reaction met the legal threshold for a compensable mental disorder—even though some of the events, including her child’s diagnosis, occurred outside the workplace—and upheld the claim under the Act.

Pharmacist wins mental disorder case tied to chemo exposure, child’s autism

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