JEFFREY MOLANDS, Administrator, THE ESTATE OF MARSHA MOLANDS v. ACCESS PROGRAM
Marsha Molands, a home health nurse for Access Program, suffered low-back and left-shoulder injuries in 2017. She underwent two back surgeries in 2019 and 2023. Following the second surgery, she developed a wound infection, sepsis, and related complications, leading to her death in April 2024. Her husband, Jeffrey Molands, as Administrator of her estate and sole dependent, sought death benefits, additional temporary total disability (TTD) benefits, medical expenses, and funeral expenses. The Court found that Ms. Molands’s death arose primarily out of her 2017 work injury, largely based on the medical examiner’s testimony that infections from her surgeries caused a "death spiral." Consequently, the Court granted death benefits to Mr. Molands at a rate of 50% of Ms. Molands’s average weekly wage, along with reimbursement for medical and funeral expenses. However, the Court denied Mr. Molands’s request for a lump-sum payment of future death benefits, citing statutory limitations and a lack of "exceptional circumstances." It also denied additional TTD benefits from August 2020 to July 2023, determining that Ms. Molands had reached maximum medical improvement in August 2020. Attorney's fees were awarded to Mr. Molands' counsel.