Reactions

Letters to the editor

Workers’ compensation

The Nov. 2, 2020, article “Who Pays When a Graduate Student Gets Hurt?” (page 26) couldn’t have come at a better time; thank you! Mid-October I was injured while working in the lab, and as a graduate student, I thought I’d provide my input. Injuries can be part of working in a lab, but the cost of paying for injuries, both physically and mentally, should not be placed on the student. Additionally, a graduate student’s workers’ compensation benefits should be better defined. I resonated with Shiva Dastjerdi when she recounted her frustrations of overcoming various logistical hurdles after her injury. For me, it was especially challenging interacting with health-care professionals during the pandemic.

My hand was injured during a chemical explosion that occurred in my hood. The shattered glass left a deep laceration in my left hand, requiring me to rush to the emergency room. When I arrived at the hospital, per COVID-19 protocol, I needed to be screened before entering. Once cleared, I ran to the reception desk, where I was asked if I had an appointment. Apparently, blood dripping down my hand wasn’t convincing enough to be seen immediately. Even finding an operating room was tricky because the rooms had been converted into COVID-19 test sites. As Shiva pointed out, health-care professionals aren’t equipped for chemical injuries.

Fortunately for me, unlike Shiva and others facing issues with laboratory injuries, the University of Minnesota provides services for workers’ compensation: my graduate student insurance will cover most of the bill, and the rest is covered by Sedgwick (a claims management service). Additionally, Sedgwick has even provided me with a workers’ compensation prescription card.

Colleges and universities should be aware of the workers’ compensation issue that graduate students face, especially faculty advisers. Graduate school is stressful enough, and dealing with an injury like Shiva’s or mine should not be placed on the graduate student. For me, the thought of leaving a career at the bench has crossed my mind several times after my injury. After personally experiencing a serious laboratory accident, I commemorate Shiva’s indomitable spirit for managing the combined stress of graduate school while dealing with her injury, paying the bills, and having to hire a lawyer.

Shiva’s resolve is remarkable.

Samantha Kennelly
Minneapolis

I read with interest the Nov. 2, 2020, article “Who Pays When a Graduate Student Gets Hurt?”

Though the health system in Canada is very different from that in the US, and the legal systems also differ markedly with respect to liability, the issue is one that has been in the back of my mind since my time as a graduate student and then a postdoctoral student half a century ago.

Considering the issues raised in your article, it seems that obtaining a disability or medical insurance policy should be strongly recommended to all people holding such positions, or making such policies a mandatory departmental requirement. Of course, it would be even better if the laws were clarified and academic institutions were required to arrange for blanket workers’ compensation insurance for all their graduate and postdoctoral students.

Robert Lemire
Deep River, Ontario

Editor’s note: Shiva Dastjerdi, whose personal experience was central to the story, had health insurance. The bills she faced were for costs her insurance didn’t cover.