Witnesses: Credibility: Drug Abuse

Schneider v. Liberty Mutual Ins. [4/20/01] 2001 MTWCC 14 Claimant's lack of credibility, his drug-seeking behavior, his attempts to obtain narcotics from a physician two days prior to his alleged industrial accident, his knowledge that he was unlikely to keep his current job, his recent history of allegedly debilitating headaches which he claimed got him fired a month and a half previously from a previous job and in connection with which he was seeking narcotics, his odd statements to his coworkers, the incongruity between the manner in which he claimed the accident occurred and the physical layout of the place of the accident, his subsequent drug-seeking behavior, and his documented lies persuade the Court that the claimed industrial accident was staged and was fraudulent.

Block v. Indemnity Ins. Co. of North America [4/18/00] 2000 MTWCC 23 Where records from numerous medical providers documented claimant's drug seeking behavior, and claimant was not credible witness, Court rejected her testimony about continued disability and that of physician who opined claimant had not reached MMI but had not reviewed complete set of medical records.