In Alario v. Offshore Service Vessels, LLC the Fifth Circuit affirmed Judge Fallon’s grant of summary judgment for the defendant vessel owner.  Michelle Alario filed suit against her Jones Act employer, alleging negligence, unseaworthiness, and entitlement to maintenance and cure when she fell out of her bunk and injured her shoulder.  The district court (Judge Fallon) granted summary judgment and dismissed the plaintiff’s claims for negligence and unseaworthiness.  After further medical evidence, he granted summary judgment on the plaintiff’s claims for maintenance and cure, concluding there was no fact issue as to whether Ms. Alario was at MMI.  The Fifth Circuit affirmed.

Ms. Alario’s physicians suggested that she may need future treatment, including epidural steroid injections.  However, her physician, Dr. Huddleston, testified that the injections were “not going to change the structural problems in her neck.”  Therefore, Judge Fallon and the Fifth Circuit agreed any further treatment was palliative, rather than curative.  Compare a 2010 decision from a New York federal district court, Haney v. Miller’s Launch, Inc., et al.,08 CV 5225 (EDNY, Nov. 15, 2010) where the court decide palliative treatment may be included under the employer’s cure obligation.