West Virginia Code Chapter 23. Workers' Compensation § 23-4-22. Permanent disability evaluations; limitations; notice

Notwithstanding any provision in this chapter to the contrary, any claim which was closed for the receipt of temporary total disability benefits or which was closed on a no-lost-time basis and which was more than five years prior to the effective date of this section shall not be considered to still be open or the subject for an evaluation of the claimant for permanent disability merely because an evaluation has not previously been conducted and a decision on permanent disability has not been made: Provided, That if a request for an evaluation was made in a claim prior to the twenty-ninth day of March, one thousand nine hundred ninety-three, the commission shall have the evaluation performed. In every instance, a claim shall be a case in which no award has been made for the purposes of section sixteen of this article. In every claim closed after the effective date of this section, the commission shall give notice to the parties of the claimant's right to a permanent disability evaluation.