§ 28-35-45 - Review and modification of decrees.
SECTION 28-35-45
§ 28-35-45 Review and modification ofdecrees. – (a) At any time after the date of the approval of any agreement or at any timeafter the date of the entry of any decree concerning compensation, and ifcompensation has ceased under the agreement or decree, within ten (10) yearsafter that, any agreement, award, order, finding, or decree may be from time totime reviewed by the workers' compensation court, upon its own motion or upon apetition of either party upon forms prescribed and furnished by the court,after due notice to the interested parties:
(1) Upon the ground that the:
(i) Incapacity of the injured employee has diminished, ended,increased, or returned;
(ii) Employee has recovered from the effects of his or herwork-related injury and is disabled only as a result of a preexisting condition;
(iii) Employee is able to return to the same work which he orshe performed at the time of his or her injury;
(iv) Employee has refused an offer of suitable employment; or
(v) Weekly compensation payments have been based upon anerroneous average weekly wage; or
(2) Regarding any other obligation established under chapters29 – 38 of this title.
(b) Upon this review the workers' compensation court maydecrease, suspend, increase, commence, or recommence compensation payments inaccordance with the facts, or make any other order that the justice of the casemay require. No review shall affect the agreement, award, order, finding, ordecree as regards money already paid, except that an award increasing thecompensation rate may be made effective from the date of the injury, and exceptthat if any part of the compensation due or to become due is unpaid, an awarddecreasing the compensation rate may be made effective from the date of injury,and any payments made prior thereto in excess of the decreased rate shall bededucted from any unpaid compensation, in the manner and by the methods thatmay be determined by the workers' compensation court.
(c) Relief on review shall not be denied an employee orgranted an employer or his or her insurer on the grounds that the employee isincapacitated by an injury or disease which is different from the one for whichthe employee was paid compensation if the injury or disease incapacitating theemployee results from an injury or disease for which the employee was paidcompensation.