Maryland Code § LE-9-503

Section LE-9-503
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(a) A paid firefighter, paid fire fighting instructor, paid rescue squad
member, paid advanced life support unit member, or sworn member of the Office of
the State Fire Marshal employed by an airport authority, a county, a fire control
district, a municipality, or the State or a volunteer firefighter, volunteer fire fighting
instructor, volunteer rescue squad member, or volunteer advanced life support unit
member who is a covered employee under § 9-234 of this title is presumed to have an
occupational disease that was suffered in the line of duty and is compensable under
this title if:
(1) the individual has heart disease, hypertension, or lung disease;
(2) the heart disease, hypertension, or lung disease results in partial
or total disability or death; and
(3) in the case of a volunteer firefighter, volunteer fire fighting
instructor, volunteer rescue squad member, or volunteer advanced life support unit
member, the individual has met a suitable standard of physical examination before
becoming a firefighter, fire fighting instructor, rescue squad member, or advanced
life support unit member.
(b) (1) A paid police officer employed by an airport authority, a county,
the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, a municipality, or
the State, a deputy sheriff of Montgomery County, or, subject to paragraph (2) of this
subsection, a deputy sheriff of Anne Arundel County, Anne Arundel County detention
officer, deputy sheriff of Baltimore City, Montgomery County correctional officer,
Prince George's County deputy sheriff, Prince George's County correctional officer, or
deputy sheriff of Allegany County is presumed to be suffering from an occupational
disease that was suffered in the line of duty and is compensable under this title if:
(i) the police officer, deputy sheriff, or correctional officer is
suffering from heart disease or hypertension; and
(ii) the heart disease or hypertension results in partial or total
disability or death.
(2) (i) A deputy sheriff of Anne Arundel County, Anne Arundel
County detention officer, deputy sheriff of Baltimore City, Montgomery County
correctional officer, Prince George's County deputy sheriff, or Prince George's County
correctional officer is entitled to the presumption under this subsection only to the
extent that the individual suffers from heart disease or hypertension that is more
severe than the individual's heart disease or hypertension condition existing prior to
the individual's employment as a deputy sheriff of Anne Arundel County, Anne

Arundel County detention officer, deputy sheriff of Baltimore City, Montgomery
County correctional officer, Prince George's County deputy sheriff, or Prince George's
County correctional officer.
(ii) To be eligible for the presumption under this subsection, a
deputy sheriff of Anne Arundel County, Anne Arundel County detention officer,
deputy sheriff of Baltimore City, Montgomery County correctional officer, Prince
George's County deputy sheriff, or Prince George's County correctional officer, as a
condition of employment, shall submit to a medical examination to determine any
heart disease or hypertension condition existing prior to the individual's employment
as a deputy sheriff of Anne Arundel County, Anne Arundel County detention officer,
deputy sheriff of Baltimore City, Montgomery County correctional officer, Prince
George's County deputy sheriff, or Prince George's County correctional officer.
(c) A paid firefighter, paid fire fighting instructor, paid rescue squad
member, paid advanced life support unit member, or a sworn member of the Office of
the State Fire Marshal employed by an airport authority, a county, a fire control
district, a municipality, or the State or a volunteer firefighter, volunteer fire fighting
instructor, volunteer rescue squad member, or volunteer advanced life support unit
member who is a covered employee under § 9-234 of this title is presumed to be
suffering from an occupational disease that was suffered in the line of duty and is
compensable under this title if:
(1) the individual has leukemia or prostate, rectal, throat, multiple
myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, brain, testicular, bladder, kidney or renal cell,
thyroid, colon, ovarian, or breast cancer that is caused by contact with a toxic
substance that the individual has encountered in the line of duty;
(2) the individual has completed at least 10 years of cumulative
service within the State as a firefighter, a fire fighting instructor, a rescue squad
member, or an advanced life support unit member or in a combination of those jobs;
(3) the cancer or leukemia results in partial or total disability or
death; and
(4) in the case of a volunteer firefighter, volunteer fire fighting
instructor, volunteer rescue squad member, or volunteer advanced life support unit
member, the individual has met a suitable standard of physical examination before
becoming a firefighter, fire fighting instructor, rescue squad member, or advanced
life support unit member.
(d) (1) A forest ranger, park ranger, wildlife ranger, paid law
enforcement employee of the Department of Natural Resources who is a covered
employee under § 9-207 of this title, and a park police officer of the Maryland-

National Capital Park and Planning Commission is presumed to have an
occupational disease that was suffered in the line of duty and is compensable under
this title if the individual:
(i) is suffering from Lyme disease; and
(ii) was not suffering from Lyme disease before assignment to
a position that regularly places the employee in an outdoor wooded environment.
(2) The presumption under this subsection for a park police officer of
the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission shall only apply:
(i) during the time that the park police officer is assigned to a
position that regularly places the park police officer in an outdoor wooded
environment; and
(ii) for 3 years after the last date that the park police officer
was assigned by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission to
a position that regularly placed the officer in an outdoor wooded environment.
(e) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, any paid
firefighter, paid fire fighting instructor, sworn member of the Office of the State Fire
Marshal, paid police officer, forest ranger, park ranger, wildlife ranger, paid law
enforcement employee of the Department of Natural Resources, deputy sheriff of
Anne Arundel County, Anne Arundel County detention officer, park police officer of
the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, deputy sheriff of
Montgomery County, deputy sheriff of Baltimore City, Montgomery County
correctional officer, deputy sheriff of Prince George's County, or Prince George's
County correctional officer who is eligible for benefits under subsection (a), (b), (c), or
(d) of this section or the dependents of those individuals shall receive the benefits in
addition to any benefits that the individual or the dependents of the individual are
entitled to receive under the retirement system in which the individual was a
participant at the time of the claim.
(2) The benefits received under this title shall be adjusted so that the
weekly total of those benefits and retirement benefits does not exceed the weekly
salary that was paid to an individual specified under paragraph (1) of this subsection.

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