WORKMEN'S COMPENSATION COMMISSION

Chairman: Melvin L. Fine, 1959

Daniel T. Doherty, 1958; Helen Elizabeth Brown, 1962;
R. Duncan Clark, 1961; Lester H. Crowther, 1963

DeLancey B. Scrivner, Secretary
Edward C. Jones, Director of Claims
Meyer M, Ohen, Legal Assistant

Members of Medical Board:
Chairman: James Frenkil, 1959

Whitmer B. Firor, M.D., 1961; John Sheldon Eastland, M.D„ 1967
741 Equitable Building, Baltimore 2 Telephone: Lexington 9-4360

By amendment effective February 1, 1958, the State Industrial
Accident Commission, created in 1914, will become The Workmen's
Compensation Commission. Under the same amendment the Com-
mission is to be composed of five members appointed by the Governor
with the advice and consent of the Senate. Initial appointments are
to date from February 1, 1958, and to be for periods of eight, nine,
ten, eleven, and twelve years respectively. Thereafter, all terms
are to be for twelve years. Like its predecessor, the Commission is to
administer the Workmen's Compensation Law. It is to hear con-
tested cases and hold hearings throughout the State; it is to receive
reports of accidents and adjudicate claims for compensation arising
under the law; and it is to investigate companies and firms which
fail to carry insurance under the terms of the Act. The Chairman
is to sit on the trial of cases when his administrative and executive
functions permit (Code 1951, Art. 101, secs. 3-13; 1997 supp., Art.
101, secs. 1, 2).

In recent years the General Assembly has made many important
changes in the Workmen's Compensation Act. Among the most im-
portant have been the increase of temporary total disability pay-
ments (weekly) from $32.00 to $35.00 (effective June 1, 1957,
$40.00); the increase of permanent total disability payments (week-
ly) from $35.00 to $40.00 (effective June 1, 1957) and the total
amount from $12,500.00 to $16,000.00 (effective June 1, 1957,
$20,000.00); the broadening of the law in hernia cases; establish-
ment of a Second Injury Fund; and removal of the limitations as to
the payment of medical expenses. In 1951, the Act included many
additional employments; also, for the first time, Maryland came to
be what is known as a nonscheduled State for Occupational Diseases
(Code 1951, Art. 101, secs. 20, 30, 32-34; 1957 supp., secs. 14, 20,
35, 67).

Medical Board For Occupational Diseases

The Medical Board for Occupational Diseases was established in
1939. The Governor appoints the members of the Board for six-year
terms with the approval of the Senate, from lists of nominees sub-
mitted by the Deans of the schools of medicine of the University
of Maryland and the Johns Hopkins University and by the Council
of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of Maryland. Each of these
agencies submits a list of three persons, two of whom are experi-
enced in occupational diseases, and one of whom is an experienced
roentgenologist. Each appointee to the Board must be a licensed
physician in good professional standing; two must have had at least
five years practice in the treating, diagnosis, and care of industrial
diseases; and the third must have been trained in roentgenology
and must have had five years practice and experience. The Governor
designates the Chairman of the Board. The Board hears and ad-