16 Aug 2019
On the balance of probabilities the labral tear surgically repaired in 2015 was not shown to have been caused by the 2006 accident but more probably developed later as an attritional lesion associated with developmental FAI; the appellant lacked cover for that injury and ACC's decline of funding was correct.
10 Jul 2019
On the balance of probabilities the L3/4 disc changes were chronic degenerative and unlikely caused by the 8 November 2010 accident, and there is no compelling causal link between the covered L4/5 injury (including post‑surgical changes) and the need for the proposed two‑level fusion; accordingly ACC properly declined funding and the appeal is dismissed.
6 May 2019
The judge found, on balance of probabilities, that the appellant failed to establish the necessary causal link between the covered ankle sprain and the condition requiring surgery; the Court preferred the Clinical Advisory Panel's view that the accessory navicular was a developmental condition rendered symptomatic by chronic/repetitive stress rather than by a single traumatic event, and dismissed the appeal.
2 May 2019
The appeal is allowed because the tribunal preferred the treating surgeon's opinion and the appellant's contemporaneous history (including immobilising lace-up boots and limited immediate mobility) plausibly explains the lack of immediate severe swelling and the delay in presentation, establishing that the 13 December 2014 accident caused the talar dome lesion requiring surgery.
2 May 2019
On the balance of probabilities the medical evidence of a longstanding degenerative subacromial impingement (including OS acromiale) rendering the supraspinatus tendon abnormal outweighed the treating surgeon's opinion of acute causation; the mechanism described was more consistent with rendering a pre-existing degenerative tear symptomatic rather than causing a new tear. Temporal coincidence alone did not establish causation under s25, so the injury requiring surgery is a gradual process injury not covered by ACC and the appeal is dismissed.
16 Apr 2019
On the balance of probabilities the evidence was insufficient to establish a causal link between the covered 1999 ankle sprain and the right ankle osteoarthritis for which funding of ankle arthrodesis was sought; therefore entitlement to ACC-funded surgery was not established and the appeal is dismissed.
22 Feb 2019
The Judge found on the balance of probabilities that the need for the 2017 L3/4 surgery was predominantly and substantially caused by a gradual age‑related degenerative process present before the 2011 accident and not by the 2013 fusion; the fusion was not a dominant or material cause of the adjacent segment disease, and therefore ACC was not liable to fund the surgery.
7 Feb 2019
On the evidence the appellant's need for surgery and ongoing incapacity were attributable to longstanding degenerative rotator cuff pathology aggravated or decompensated by the 22 November 2014 sprain but not caused by it; ACC had a sufficient basis to suspend weekly compensation; the work-related gradual process claim could not be determined on the existing record and must be reinvestigated; interim name suppression granted pending specific affidavit.
6 Dec 2018
On balance of probabilities the evidence and expert opinions of the Corporation (CAP, Dr Reeves, Mr Hunter, Mr Howie) are more persuasive than the treating surgeon's speculative causation theory; the L4/5 pathology is more likely a pre-existing degenerative condition not shown to be caused or substantially accelerated by the 2011 T12 fracture, so the surgery is not covered and the appeal is dismissed.
18 Oct 2018
On the balance of probabilities the subacromial impingement that required surgical treatment was not causally related to the 5 April 2017 accident; CAP's analysis that the condition was degenerative/age‑related and the SLAP lesion incidental was more persuasive than the operating surgeon's limited causation opinion, therefore ACC's decision to decline funding was correct.