MMI must be reached, even on denied claim

The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, in, Fab Arc Steel Supply, Inc. v. Dodd, 2015 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 14 (Ala. Civ. App. Jan. 16, 2015), held that an order entering an award of disability is premature if the employee has not reached MMI (maximum medical improvement). The Dodd Court noted that "... we have not located any Alabama authority that estops an employer who has denied medical treatment for a particular injury from arguing that an employee has not reached MMI as to that injury." The Court of Civil Appeals reversed the Trial Court's finding of permanent total disability by ruling: "We conclude that the trial court erred in assigning February 24, 2011, as the date the employee reached MMI. The trial court should have determined that the employee had not yet reached MMI due to the untreated condition of his back injury."