35-1001. Death or disability as a result of cancer; death or disability as a result of certain diseases; prima facie evidence.

(1) For a firefighter or firefighter-paramedic who is a member of a paid fire department of a municipality or a rural or suburban fire protection district in this state, including a municipality having a home rule charter or a municipal authority created pursuant to a home rule charter that has its own paid fire department, and who suffers death or disability as a result of cancer, including, but not limited to, cancer affecting the skin or the central nervous, lymphatic, digestive, hematological, urinary, skeletal, oral, or prostate systems, evidence which demonstrates that (a) such firefighter or firefighter-paramedic successfully passed a physical examination upon entry into such service or subsequent to such entry, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of cancer, (b) such firefighter or firefighter-paramedic was exposed to a known carcinogen, as defined on July 19, 1996, by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, while in the service of the fire department, and (c) such carcinogen is reported by the agency to be a suspected or known cause of the type of cancer the firefighter or firefighter-paramedic has, shall be prima facie evidence that such death or disability resulted from injuries, accident, or other cause while in the line of duty for the purposes of sections 16-1020 to 16-1042, a firefighter's pension plan established pursuant to a home rule charter, and a firefighter's pension or disability plan established by a rural or suburban fire protection district.

(2) For a firefighter or firefighter-paramedic who is a member of a paid fire department of a municipality or a rural or suburban fire protection district in this state, including a municipality having a home rule charter or a municipal authority created pursuant to a home rule charter that has its own paid fire department, and who suffers death or disability as a result of a blood-borne infectious disease, tuberculosis, meningococcal meningitis, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, evidence which demonstrates that (a) such firefighter or firefighter-paramedic successfully passed a physical examination upon entry into such service or subsequent to such entry, which examination failed to reveal any evidence of such blood-borne infectious disease, tuberculosis, meningococcal meningitis, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and (b) such firefighter or firefighter-paramedic has engaged in the service of the fire department within ten years before the onset of the disease, shall be prima facie evidence that such death or disability resulted from injuries, accident, or other cause while in the line of duty for the purposes of sections 16-1020 to 16-1042, a firefighter's pension plan established pursuant to a home rule charter, and a firefighter's pension or disability plan established by a rural or suburban fire protection district.

(3) The prima facie evidence presumed under this section shall extend to death or disability as a result of cancer as described in this section, a blood-borne infectious disease, tuberculosis, meningococcal meningitis, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus after the firefighter or firefighter-paramedic separates from his or her service to the fire department if the death or disability occurs within three months after such separation.

(4) For purposes of this section, blood-borne infectious disease means human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, and all strains of hepatitis.

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