Because decedent’s death did not occur within 300 weeks of the date of the original work injury, denial of fatal claim petition was proper.

The decedent suffered a work injury on October 15, 2003, which was acknowledged by Notice of Compensation Payable (NCP) as a “lumbar strain/sprain.” Later, in connection with a petition to review, the parties stipulated to amending the description of the work injury to “lumbar strain/sprain and lumbar disc disruption L4-5, resulting in total disc arthroplasty at L4-5 level.” The Workers’ Compensation Judge’s decision granting the review petition was dated June 28, 2006.

On June 8, 2011, the claimant filed a fatal claim petition, alleging the decedent died on June 13, 2010, as a result of mixed drug toxicity from medications prescribed by her treating physician. The employer requested a dismissal of the petition since the decedent’s death did not occur within 300 weeks of the date of the work injury, as required by §301 (c) (1) of the Act. The judge denied the claimant’s petition, concluding that it was barred under this provision of the Act. The Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board affirmed.

On appeal to the Commonwealth Court, the claimant argued that the 300-week limitation to file a death claim starts from the date that the additional injuries occurred. In other words, the claimant took the position that the 300-week limitation should be extended since the decedent had sought and received an expansion of the work injuries by a Workers’ Compensation Judge’s decision in June of 2006.

The Commonwealth Court rejected the claimant’s argument, finding it irrelevant that the decedent’s work injury was legally expanded by the judge in 2006. The compensable injury for the decedent commenced in 2003. The Commonwealth Court, therefore, affirmed the dismissal of the fatal claim petition on the basis that it was time barred.

Case Law Alerts, 4th Quarter 2013