Heart Disease Covered by Worker's Comp for Police Officer

The Court of Appeals of Virginia has decided that a city must pay workers’ compensation benefits for a police officer’s heart disease despite an expired statute of limitations and that officer’s long history of heart issues. The case is City of Newport News v. Kahikina, No. 1372-19-1, 2020 Va. App. LEXIS 49 (Ct. App. Feb. 25, 2020).

In 2004, Joey Kahikina, a police officer with the City of Newport News, began having heart problems. In October of 2011, he began experiencing irregular heartbeats at work, saw a cardiologist, and was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. The diagnosing doctor attributed the irregular heartbeats to his consumption of a Red Bull the previous day. Kahikina was allowed to perform “sedentary work only” until January 2012. In 2015, Kahikina was hospitalized for chest pain and diagnosed with “unstable angina” as well as hypertension, diabetes and high cholesterol.