Permanent Total Disability? NY Worker’s Comp Case Highlights Need to Review All Criteria

In New York Workers’ Compensation Case No. 00427749, the claimant, a driver, sustained injuries to her back, neck, right shoulder, face, and right thumb when she was rear-ended by a van in 2004. In addition to underscoring the requirements a claimant must meet to be classified with a permanent total disability, the proceedings that ensued in this case provide carriers and employers with an important defense against claimants’ physicians who do not properly investigate the true capabilities and daily lives of claimants.