Legal Question in Workers Comp in California

Unfortunately, no. If you can show medically that the cancer was from the Hepatitis [the origins of all but 2-3 cancers is still really unknown], your mother would be entitled to "...all reasonable medical treatment needed to cure or relieve from the injury...", unless she settled her rights to future medical treatment. If the settlement was a Compromise and Release of all industrial injury claims, then she had received a lump sum payment for any and all benefits for her at work job and could not claim anything more. In some C& R's the award for lifetime medical treatment is left open; you need to get a copy of the award from the WCAB that issued it or find out from them where you can get a copy. If she did not settle the award for future medical treatment, all she is entitled to is the medical treatment but not compensation for pain and suffering, disability, lost wages, etc. If she has other medical insurance that would cover the cancer treatment, she could attempt to settle for a lump sum the cost of the treatment with the W.C. carrier in hope of the other carrier picking up the entire cost of treatment, but most medical insurance plan ask whether there is other insurance that might pay some of the costs and will only pay in excess of what the first carrier would or should have.

I am sorry that both she and you have to suffer this problem which seems to have no legal solution.

In the Workers' Compensation system, the trade off for the employer being liable for injuries, illnesses, etc. for which there was no employer negligence is that the employee can not sue in civil court the employer, with a few, not apprently relevant in your case, exceptions. If an outside contractor had also been responsible for her initial injuries, she could have civilly sued that party because they were not her employer, but she would have had to do so within 1-2 years of the injury. A claim for new and further disability must be made within 5 years of the date of injuy.