By Swain Thorne
Meeting with unfortunate accidents at the workplace is not a rare occurrence. Many people endure fatal injuries while working at their job location. However, some injuries do not impact the sufferer’s capacity to work.
On the other hand, some injuries leave the affected person with no choice other than to abandon the previous job. Permanent partial disability refers to those injuries inflicted disabilities. Many also wonder about what is a PPD award. It simply refers to the compensation for loss of ability on account of a workplace injury. No matter the confusion here is all you need to know about PPD.
What Is PPD?
As explained earlier, PPD is when a person does not recover from an injury-induced incapacity completely. In such cases, the concerned physician conducts appropriate tests to confirm the physical and mental state of the patient. Thus, an assertion of such a condition is possible only when it remains supported by adequate medical documents. The followings are some conditions that constitute the PPD list.
- When lower back pain doesn’t respond to any variety of treatment
- In the case of a paralyzed limb
- If one has a severed finger, especially the thumb
- If a person suffers from permanent hearing loss
- PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder
The physician’s opinion and remarks are particularly important if you need a PPD award. Since it is a medical condition, an expert’s opinions about the same get the most validation.
Extent Of Disability
Different injuries cause different levels of damage. People suffering from a critical injury do not always end up with the same extent of Permanente damage. Here comes the role of a physician who determines and asserts the exact level of damage. An expert often called a rater follows all the protocols and translates the extent of damage into disability.
Different ratings come with different levels of restrictions. A person with a 50% rating cannot lift the weight, carry things, bend over, or even go drive for long hours. The award also depends on the rating given to an injured one. Hence, a rating is also critical for getting the claim you deserve.
How To Get PPD Benefits?
Before getting the PPD award, you need to meet some requirements to qualify for the same. The followings are a brief list of the essentials.
- You need to meet the stipulations set for worker’s compensation policies
- You need to file a claim for the compensation you are looking for
- One should abide by the guidelines of the state-specific workers’ compensation laws and seek medical care from the doctors who treat patients under workers’ compensation
Pre-Existing Injuries
If you receive an injury over an old one, your compensation might be lower. Suppose you already had a back injury from a car accident. Now if your back is hurt once more at work, the doctor will first check how much of the damage is due to the old injury.
Most states do not exclude the culpability of the old injury while rating the disability caused by the recent accident.
You can consider engaging the best lawyers near you to get the best awards for PPD. Like any other legal case, PPD award claims involve several intricate steps. Professional attorneys can always help get the amount you deserve without much ado.
