## Facts

- Gregory Vialpando suffered a compensable low-back injury at work in 2000 and underwent multiple surgeries.
- The parties later stipulated to 99% permanent partial disability, and medical evidence described severe, persistent, treatment-resistant pain despite significant narcotic and antidepressant medication use.
- New Mexico’s Lynn and Erin Compassionate Use Act authorized a Department of Health Medical Cannabis Program.
- Vialpando was certified by physicians as a qualified patient based on debilitating severe chronic pain.
- In 2013, Vialpando sought approval from a workers’ compensation judge (WCJ) for employer reimbursement of medical cannabis obtained through the state program as pain treatment.
- The WCJ found Vialpando qualified for the program, determined cannabis was reasonable and necessary medical care under the Workers’ Compensation Act (WCA), and ordered reimbursement.
- The employer and insurer appealed, arguing the WCA did not authorize reimbursement and that an order requiring payment for marijuana was illegal, unenforceable, and contrary to public policy due to federal prohibition.

## Issues

1. Whether the New Mexico Workers’ Compensation Act permits a WCJ to require an employer/insurer to reimburse an injured worker for medical cannabis obtained through the state Medical Cannabis Program when found reasonable and necessary.
2. Whether a reimbursement order is illegal, unenforceable, or contrary to public policy because marijuana remains prohibited under the federal Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
3. Whether the absence of express recognition of medical cannabis providers or cannabis-related treatment in workers’ compensation regulations bars reimbursement.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals affirmed the WCJ’s order.
- The WCA’s obligation to furnish reasonable and necessary medical care was broad enough to include medical cannabis when supported by medical certification and WCJ findings.
- The lack of explicit regulatory listing for cannabis treatment or providers did not categorically exclude reimbursement once reasonable necessity was established.
- Federal law did not preempt the reimbursement order because the employer was required only to reimburse costs, not to possess, manufacture, distribute, or prescribe marijuana.
- The reimbursement requirement was not deemed illegal or void as against public policy in light of New Mexico’s legislative authorization of medical cannabis use for qualifying conditions.

## Legal Principles

- Under the New Mexico WCA, an employer may be required to pay for medical treatment found by a WCJ to be reasonable and necessary, even if the modality is not specifically enumerated in regulations.
- Medical cannabis obtained through New Mexico’s Medical Cannabis Program may qualify as compensable medical care when supported by certification and WCJ findings of reasonableness and necessity.
- A state workers’ compensation reimbursement order for medical cannabis is not automatically preempted by the CSA where compliance does not require the employer to engage in conduct prohibited by federal criminal law.
- Public policy objections based solely on federal illegality do not invalidate reimbursement where state law affirmatively authorizes medical cannabis use for qualifying patients.

## Conclusion

The New Mexico Court of Appeals upheld a workers’ compensation order requiring employer reimbursement for medical cannabis used through the state program because the WCJ found it reasonable and necessary medical care, and the payment obligation was not barred by federal preemption or public policy.


Vialpando v. Ben’s Auto. Servs., 331 P.3d 975 (N.M. Ct. App. 2014)