SB778 Summary

• Establishes that compensable injury claims must be supported by objective findings made specifically by a licensed physician, and excludes prescriptions without specific findings from objective findings definition.

• Creates rebuttable presumption that injuries sustained by employees on break, clocked out, or entering/exiting premises were not incurred during employment services.

• Restructures third-party liability provisions to grant employers and carriers an absolute first lien on settlement/judgment proceeds after collection costs, with any excess credited against future compensation payments.

• Requires compensable injury to be the major cause of need for treatment and limits employees to one petition to change physicians unless compelling reasons justify change.

• Repeals the "Made-Whole Doctrine" and specifically annuls multiple prior court decisions deemed inconsistent with the 1993 workers' compensation statute (Act 796), including cases by the Arkansas Supreme Court and Court of Appeals.