Who says that every impairment has to be combined using the CVC (combined value chart)? It isn’t necessarily so.

At a recent seminar a heart surgeon said that sometimes 1 times 1 is 7. Meaning that sometimes combining is not appropriate. Sometimes impairments are synergistic (having two impairments can be much worse than having only one). We need to think outside the box.

As you know combining reduces the resultant impairments – 30% and 30% yield 51% when combined. Maybe they should be added – 30% + 30% = 60%. According to page 10 of the AMA Guides 5th edition, it says “Other options are to combine (add, subtract, or multiply) multiple impairments based upon the extent to which they affect an individual’s ability to perform ADL’s”.