3 May 2016
The appellant failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that the chondral defects were caused by the 26 November 2012 incident; the Clinical Advisory Panel's assessment that the defects reflect pre-existing degenerative change (with the accident rendering symptoms) is preferred over the treating surgeon's opinion, and accordingly ACC's decision to decline funding for surgery is upheld.
30 Oct 2014
The Judge preferred the comprehensive contemporaneous and imaging-based analysis of Mr Fong and the review by Mr Taine over Mr Johnson's opinion, finding the medical evidence established chronic degenerative rotator cuff tendinopathy with progression to a full-thickness tear rather than a tear caused by an acute traumatic event; therefore the injury was not caused by an accident and the appeal was dismissed.
30 May 2014
On the balance of probabilities the appellant failed to establish that the need for transforaminal injections for the L5/S1 disc protrusion arose from the 8 May 2011 accident; the evidence more likely shows age‑appropriate degenerative changes that became symptomatic rather than a distinct injury caused by the accident, so ACC's decision to decline funding was upheld.
28 Mar 2013
On the balance of probabilities the medical evidence established that the appellant's left leg pain and the need for the fusion surgery were consequences of the original 2006 injury and subsequent 2009 injury; therefore the surgery was treatment for a condition arising from a covered personal injury and ACC must fund the surgery.
11 May 2011
The Court found the surgery was principally to treat subacromial bursitis caused by the March 2008 wrenching injury, that bursitis is inflammatory and not degenerative, and that the presence of pre-existing glenohumeral osteoarthritis did not negate cover; accordingly ACC's refusal to fund the surgery was quashed and replaced with a direction to meet the surgery costs under Clause 1 Schedule 1 of the Accident Compensation Act 2001.
2 Mar 2011
Imaging and medical evidence established a significant pre-existing degenerative condition and the appellant failed to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that the gym incident caused injury beyond some aggravation of that degenerative process; therefore ACC's refusal to fund surgery was upheld.
27 Oct 2010
The acute growth plate displacement caused by the fall required immediate surgical intervention in 2005 and the resultant stunted growth of the left femur directly caused the present leg length discrepancy; therefore the right leg epiphysiodesis is a treatment consequence of a covered injury and must be funded under Schedule 1 Clauses 1 and 2.
23 Sept 2010
The McDonald line remains binding: but-for causation alone is insufficient where an accident only renders a pre-existing degenerative condition symptomatic; ACC cover requires a discrete injury caused by the accident that presently causes or contributes to incapacity. The District Court's factual conclusion that only the pre-existing degeneration explains current incapacity was open on the evidence; appeal dismissed.
21 Dec 2007
Medical evidence, particularly from independent specialists, established that the appellant's current condition is predominantly due to pre-existing multilevel degenerative disc disease and that the July 2005 pruning event provided insufficient trauma to cause the pathology necessitating surgery; therefore ACC correctly concluded there was no causal nexus and lawfully declined to fund the surgery.