The Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community has recognized the total permanent disability of a self-employed plumber due to his dilated cardiomyopathy, added to the disorder due to the use of alcohol, cannabis, opiates, cocaine and heroin. For the court, the combination of these ailments and addictions makes it impossible for him to continue working in his usual profession, so he will receive a lifetime pension equivalent to 55% of a regulatory base of 807.94 euros per month.
As explained in the ruling STSJ CV 4080/2025 (available in the Judiciary), the worker suffered from all of these pathologies, to which was added a clinical history which shows that he was admitted to a therapeutic center for detoxification in Asturias and was evaluated recurrently in emergencies due to exacerbations of his heart failure, reporting a feeling of suffocation at night and fatigue with minimal effort.
For this reason, he requested that Social Security recognize his permanent disability, but it was denied, explaining in the resolution letter that “the injuries he suffers are not susceptible to objective determination or foreseeably definitive,” indicating that he should continue under medical treatment until the definitive assessment of his ailments. This is so, since this is what article 193.1 of the General Social Security Law regulates.
Faced with this situation, after a previous claim that was rejected, the plumber decided to go to court, since he had chronic and irreversible dilated cardiomyopathy, in addition to the aforementioned polysubstance use disorder and lumbosciatica.
Right to permanent disability due to cardiomyopathy and addiction
In the first instance, the Social Court number 2 of Benidorm agreed with the worker and upheld his claim, recognizing his disability. Now, Social Security decided to appeal the ruling before the Superior Court of Justice of the Valencian Community, alleging a violation of articles 193 and 194.4 of the General Law of Social Security, by maintaining that the man’s limitations were not definitive and their scope was not consolidated.
In the process, the expert medical reports were evaluated, which concluded that the cardiomyopathy he suffers from is “chronic, progressive and irreversible”, with the only effective treatment being a heart transplant. The reports made it clear that subjecting him to physical exertion entailed the risk of suffering cardiogenic syncope, an acute myocardial infarction or acute lung edema, a situation that could also be aggravated by the inhalation of irritating substances typical of his work.
The TSJ accepted the assessment of the lower court and dismissed the Social Security appeal. The court explains that, on the date of the causative event, the disease was already objective and that the pathology is chronic, irreversible and incompatible with physically demanding activities, this being the key to granting the disability.
For this reason, the Court ended up arguing that the main profession of self-employed plumber involves “intense physical requirements and biomechanical loading of the upper and lower extremities as well as movement and continuous standing.” These demands, the Court notes, are totally incompatible with the current state of his cardiac pathology.
Thus and for everything explained, your right to total permanent disability derived from a common illness is confirmed, with the right to a pension of 55% of a regulatory base of 807.94 euros. The payment of the benefit will have retroactive economic effects from April 27, 2023, and incompatible salaries or benefits that may have been received must be deducted.