New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Degenerative versus traumatic pathology

Legal area

Court

21 Nov 2017

Amodeo v Accident Compensation Corporation (Cover Issues)

Citation

[2017] NZACC 137
Court

District Court

On the balance of probabilities the appellant failed to prove that the L4/5 disc pathology was caused by a covered accident; independent medical evidence supported a degenerative non‑traumatic cause, the 1991 event lacked contemporaneous medical records to support a causal link, and therefore the Corporation's decision of 29 July 2015 and the review decision of 23 March 2016 were correct and were upheld.
8 Jul 2016

Brooker v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2016] NZACC 186
Court

District Court

The CAP opinion that the superior labral pathology most likely reflected degenerative change or a normal variant, together with absence of convincing traumatic features (notably no biceps anchor avulsion) and the speculative nature of the treating surgeon's mechanistic explanation, meant the appellant failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that the covered accidents caused the surgical condition; the review decision declining funding for surgery was therefore upheld.