{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-76-76-95","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 76, § 76-95","heading":"Prerequisite of prima facie showing in silica claims -","body":"Medical report - Evidence requirements.\n\nA. No person shall have a silica claim placed on any active\n\ntrial roster in this state, or brought to trial in this state, or\n\nconduct discovery in a silica claim in this state, in the absence of\n\na prima facie showing of impairment as shown by service on each\n\ndefendant of a report by a physician who is board-certified in\n\npulmonary medicine, internal medicine, oncology, pathology, or\n\noccupational medicine at the time of issuing the relevant medical\n\nreport.\n\nB. In a case alleging silicosis, the medical report must be\n\nissued by a physician who is board-certified in pulmonary medicine,\n\ninternal medicine, occupational medicine, or pathology that:\n\n1. The exposed person has been diagnosed with a silica-related\n\ncondition; and\n\n2. Confirms that a physician actually treating or who treated\n\nthe exposed person, or who has or who had a doctor-patient\n\nrelationship with the exposed person or a medical professional\n\nemployed by and under the direct supervision and control of such\n\nphysician:\n\na. performed a physical examination of the exposed\n\nperson, or if the exposed person is deceased, reviewed\n\navailable records relating to the exposed person's\n\nmedical condition,\n\nb. took a detailed occupational and exposure history from\n\nthe exposed person or, if the exposed person is\n\ndeceased, from a person knowledgeable about the\n\nalleged exposure or exposures that form the basis of\n\nthe action, and\n\nc. took a detailed medical and smoking history that\n\nincludes a thorough review of the exposed person's\n\nsignificant past and present medical problems and the\n\nmost probable cause of any such problem that is\n\nrelevant to the exposed person's impairment or\n\ndisease.\n\nC. The medical report must set out the details of the exposed\n\nperson's occupational, exposure, medical, and smoking history, and\n\nset forth that there has been a sufficient latency period for the\n\napplicable type of silicosis.\n\nD. The medical report must confirm, on the basis of medical\n\nexamination, chest x-ray and pulmonary function testing, that the\n\nexposed person has permanent respiratory impairment:\n\n1. Rated at least Class 2 pursuant to the AMA Guides to the\n\nEvaluation of Permanent Impairment; and\n\n2. Accompanied by:\n\na. a chest x-ray that is an ILO quality 1 film, except\n\nthat in the case of a deceased exposed individual\n\nwhere no pathology is available, the film can be ILO\n\nquality 2, showing bilateral nodular opacities (p, q,\n\nor r) occurring primarily in the upper lung fields,\n\ngraded 1/1 or higher under the ILO system of\n\nclassification, or\n\nb. a chest x-ray that is an ILO quality 1 film, except\n\nthat in the case of a deceased exposed individual\n\nwhere no pathology is available, the film can be ILO\n\nquality 2, showing large opacities (A, B, or C) in\n\naddition to the small opacities referred to in the\n\npreceding section, or\n\nc. a chest x-ray that is an ILO quality 1 film showing\n\nacute silicosis as described in Occupational Lung\n\nDiseases, Third Edition, as amended from time to time,\n\nor\n\nd. pathological demonstration of classic silicotic\n\nnodules exceeding one (1) centimeter in diameter as\n\npublished in 112 Archive of Pathology and Laboratory\n\nMedicine 7 (July 1988), as amended from time to time,\n\nor\n\ne. pathological demonstration of acute silicosis.\n\nE. For all other silica-related claims, other than silicosis,\n\nthe medical report must:\n\n1. Be issued by a physician who is board-certified in pulmonary\n\nmedicine, internal medicine, occupational medicine, or pathology\n\nthat:\n\na. the exposed person has been diagnosed with a silica-\n\nrelated condition, and\n\nb. confirms that a physician actually treating or who\n\ntreated the exposed person, or who has or who had a\n\ndoctor-patient relationship with the exposed person or\n\na medical professional employed by and under the\n\ndirect supervision and control of such physician:\nl medicine, occupational medicine, or pathology\n\nthat:\n\na. the exposed person has been diagnosed with a silica-\n\nrelated condition, and\n\nb. confirms that a physician actually treating or who\n\ntreated the exposed person, or who has or who had a\n\ndoctor-patient relationship with the exposed person or\n\na medical professional employed by and under the\n\ndirect supervision and control of such physician:\n\n(1) stating a diagnosis of silica-related lung cancer\n\nbased on a sufficient latency period which is not\n\nless than fifteen (15) years and a statement that\n\nto a reasonable degree of medical certainty\n\nexposure to silica was a proximate cause of the\n\nexposed person's physical impairment, accompanied\n\nby a conclusion that the exposed person's silica-\n\nrelated lung cancer was not more probably the\n\nresult of causes other than exposure to silica\n\nrevealed by the exposed person's occupational,\n\nexposure, medical, and smoking history, or\n\n(2) stating a diagnosis of silicosis complicated by\n\ndocumented tuberculosis, or\n\n(3) stating a diagnosis of any other silica-related\n\ndisease, accompanied by a diagnosis of silicosis\n\nas defined herein, based on a sufficient latency\n\nperiod and a statement that to a reasonable\n\ndegree of medical certainty exposure to silica\n\nwas a proximate cause of the exposed person's\n\nphysical impairment, accompanied by a conclusion\n\nthat the exposed person's silica-related disease\n\nwas not more probably the result of causes other\n\nthan exposure to silica revealed by the exposed\n\nperson's occupational, exposure, medical, and\n\nsmoking history; and\n\n2. Be accompanied by:\n\na. a chest x-ray that is an ILO quality 1 film, except\n\nthat in the case of a deceased exposed individual\n\nwhere no pathology is available, the film can be ILO\n\nquality 2, showing bilateral nodular opacities (p, q,\n\nor r) occurring primarily in the upper lung fields,\n\ngraded 1/1 or higher under the ILO system of\n\nclassification,\n\nb. chest x-ray that is an ILO quality 1 film, except that\n\nin the case of a deceased exposed individual where no\n\npathology is available, the film can be ILO quality 2,\n\nshowing large opacities (A, B, or C) in addition to\n\nthe small opacities referred to in subparagraph a of\n\nthis paragraph,\n\nc. chest x-ray that is an ILO quality 1 film showing\n\nacute silicosis as described in Occupational Lung\n\nDiseases, Third Edition, as amended from time to time,\n\nd. pathological demonstration of classic silicotic\n\nnodules exceeding one (1) centimeter in diameter as\n\npublished in 112 Archive of Pathology and Laboratory\n\nMedicine 7 (July 1988), as amended from time to time,\n\nor\n\ne. pathological demonstration of acute silicosis.\n\nF. All evidence and reports used in presenting the prima facie\n\nshowing required in this section, including pulmonary function\n\ntesting and diffusing studies, if any:\n\n1. Must comply with the technical recommendations for\n\nexaminations, testing procedures, quality assurance, quality\n\ncontrols, and equipment in the AMA's Guidelines to the Evaluation of\n\nPermanent Impairment and the most current version of the Official\n\nStatements of the American Thoracic Society regarding lung function\n\ntesting, including general considerations for lung function testing,\n\nstandardization of spirometry, standardization of the measurement of\n\nlung volumes, standardization of the single breath determination of\n\ncarbon monoxide uptake in the lung, and interpretive strategies of\n\nlung testing in effect at the time of the performance of any\n\nexamination or test on the exposed person required by this act.\n\nTesting performed in a hospital or other medical facility that is\n\nfully licensed and accredited by all appropriate regulatory bodies\n\nin the state in which the facility is located, is presumed to meet\n\nthe requirements of this subsection. This presumption may be\n\nrebutted by evidence demonstrating that the accreditation or\nperson required by this act.\n\nTesting performed in a hospital or other medical facility that is\n\nfully licensed and accredited by all appropriate regulatory bodies\n\nin the state in which the facility is located, is presumed to meet\n\nthe requirements of this subsection. This presumption may be\n\nrebutted by evidence demonstrating that the accreditation or\n\nlicensing of the hospital or other medical facility has lapsed, or\n\nproviding specific facts demonstrating that the technical\n\nrecommendations for examinations, testing procedures, quality\n\nassurance, quality control, and equipment have not been followed;\n\n2. Must not be obtained through testing or examinations that\n\nviolate any applicable law, regulation, licensing requirement, or\n\nmedical code of practice;\n\n3. Must not be obtained under the condition that the exposed\n\nperson retains legal services in exchange for the examination, test,\n\nor screening;\n\n4. Shall not result in any presumption at trial that the\n\nexposed person is impaired by an asbestos- or silica-related\n\ncondition; and\n\n5. Shall not be conclusive as to the liability of any\n\ndefendant.\n\nG. The conclusion that a prima facie showing has been made is\n\nnot admissible at trial.","path":["OK Code","Title 76"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os76.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"9f0809ee33973c6b335b63ec68d7930cfac8ae56025ab6fb5afa67f4b493a0f0","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-76-76-94","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-76-76-96"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}