Occupational Diseases: Lyme Disease Bill Vetoed

Governor George Pataki of New York has rejected a bill that would have allowed Lyme Disease to be considered an occupational disease. The ruling means that workers who contract Lyme Disease will remain ineligible for state workers' compensation. "Since existing law already provides the board with the authority to award benefits to workers who contract Lyme Disease in the course of their employment, I am reluctant to approve any measure that could be interpreted as limiting such authority," Pataki said.

Lyme Disease Bill Vetoed

Pataki has had Lyme Disease and said that the board already has the ability to consider Lyme Disease an occupational illness, depending on case circumstances. Pataki did not approve this bill because he disagreed with the way in which it named the kinds of workers who could be eligible for benefits: only those involved in "farming, landscaping operations, tree pruning, spraying, repairing, or related occupation which creates exposure to Lyme Disease-carrying organisms or care or handling of animals." Lyme disease a neurological disease carried by deer ticks.