- Permanent impairment {NEL} (redetermination) (significant deterioration)
The worker was granted a 15% NEL award for the permanent impairment to his lower back. The issue under appeal was whether the worker was entitled to a redetermination of his NEL benefit for the low back due to a significant deterioration.
The Panel allowed the appeal.The Panel clarified that there is no obligation under Policy 18-05-09 (NEL Redeterminations) or the WSIA for the worker to undergo a proposed surgery before he can be entitled to a NEL redetermination, particularly if his own doctors were concerned about the efficacy of said surgery. The two-year waitlist for the surgery was also outside of the worker's control. In other words, it was not reasonable, in the Panel's view, to indefinitely defer the worker's entitlement to a NEL redetermination on the basis of possible future surgery, which may or may not improve his condition, and may never happen. All that the Panel is required to determine under Policy 18-05-09 and the WSIA is whether the significant deterioration of the worker's low back has stabilized and/or no further significant improvement is likely. The worker's condition had not changed and had therefore stabilized. The significant deterioration in the worker's condition was stable enough for the purposes of the Policy No. 18-05-09 to deem it permanent. This determination was consistent with Decision No. 1294/17. The worker's PWD was accepted as May 14, 2024. He was entitled to a redetermination of his NEL benefit.