Justices Decline to Add to PD Rating Requirement

The Kansas Supreme Court declined to expand the legal requirement to prove permanent partial disability, saying that a judge can make the finding without a physician's input. The justices said that the law was clear, and that it only required that a doctor testify about a claimant's loss of work function. The high court took up the case of trucker John Elliott Graham after an appellate court overturned his permanent disability award. Graham injured his neck, arm and leg in a February 2002 fall from a trailer. Graham received temporary total disability benefits, and returned to work ...