The Social Chamber of the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community has confirmed the right of a self-employed plumber to receive a total permanent disability pension after Social Security denied it. The ruling confirms that he suffers from dilated cardiomyopathy with heart failure and that this condition prevents him from continuing to carry out an activity with continuous physical demand, such as plumbing. The lifetime pension will be 55% of a regulatory base of 807.94 euros, with economic effects from April 27, 2023.
According to the ruling, the self-employed plumber requested total permanent disability from Social Security, but it was denied, since his injuries were not “susceptible to objective determination or foreseeably definitive,” so he had to continue receiving medical treatment until a final assessment. Despite the claims and medical reports, Social Security continued to maintain the same position.
According to the file, it showed that the plaintiff had a diagnosis of alcohol, opiate, cannabis, cocaine, heroin and benzodiazepine use disorder, in addition to dilated and lumbosciatic cardiomyopathy.
As the procedure progressed, medical documentation specified the extent of its limitations. One of the expert reports included in the case expressly stated that the worker “is not capable of carrying out his usual or similar work that requires physical effort”, since his heart disease causes fatigue and dyspnea (this part is key in the sentence). That same report also warned of the risk of “cardiogenic syncope”, acute myocardial infarction or acute lung edema in the event of exertion.
The ruling also incorporates another key statement to understand the case, which is that “cardiomyopathy is chronic, evolutionary and irreversible, the only effective treatment being heart transplant.” The same document added that heart failure is “a chronic problem that we cannot cure in most cases,” although it can be controlled with appropriate treatment and changes in lifestyle.
He had the right to total permanent disability
Upon reaching the courts, the TSJ of the Valencian Community ruled in favor of the plumber, explaining that, at the time of the causative event, the disease “was already identified” and that the affected person was receiving treatment to stabilize the symptoms derived from cardiac decompensation. From there, the Court understands that it was a pathology that was “chronic, irreversible and incompatible with physically demanding activities.”
The court also remembers that total permanent disability must be assessed taking into account the essential tasks of the usual profession. And, in this case, he emphasizes that the main activity of a self-employed plumber involves “intense physical and biomechanical load requirements on the upper and lower extremities as well as movement and continuous standing”, demands that are incompatible with his state of health. Therefore, it concludes that the actor presents “a definitive clinical picture incompatible with the profession he had been developing.”
In this way, the worker maintains the recognition of total permanent disability and the right to collect a 55% pension on a regulatory basis of 807.94 euros. The ruling also indicates that there was no order for costs and that an appeal was possible against the resolution for the unification of doctrine before the Supreme Court.