New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Post-concussion syndrome

Legal area

Court

8 Aug 2019

LC v Accident Compensation Corporation (Personal Injury)

Citation

[2019] NZACC 93
Court

District Court

The specialist medical evidence of the neurologist and neuropsychologist outweighed the earlier physician opinion: there was no persisting causal link between the 2011 concussion and the appellant's current presentation. On the balance of medical evidence the concussion effects had resolved within about one year post-accident; therefore weekly compensation is payable only up to 22 February 2012 and not thereafter.
24 Jul 2018

Harris v Accident Compensation Corporation (Entitlements)

Citation

[2018] NZACC 116
Court

District Court

On balance the Court found a causal link between the accepted 2002 injuries (notably concussion/post-concussion syndrome and its sequelae) and the need for the diagnostic third occipital (C2-3) nerve block; imaging absence of structural C2-3 pathology did not bar entitlement because functional evidence and expert opinion established the procedure was clinically appropriate and causally connected to the accepted injuries, so funding is required under s67.
26 Oct 2017

Subritzky v Accident Compensation Corporation (Cover for Mental Injury)

Citation

[2017] NZACC 130
Court

District Court

The Court preferred Dr Malone's comprehensive, contemporaneous-record‑based psychiatric assessment which identified significant symptom validity concerns, found no current PTSD or post-concussional disorder and concluded the appellant's schizoaffective/bipolar disorder was not materially caused by the 1997 assault; on the rehearing the appellant failed to prove on the balance of probabilities a clinically significant PTSD or PCS causally linked to the covered physical injury, therefore the Corporation's decision of 4 September 2013 and the reviewer’s decision were correctly upheld and the app…
30 Sept 2016

Strong v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2016] NZACC 273
Court

District Court

The Court held ACC had a sufficient evidential basis on 2 May 2011 to be not satisfied that the appellant's ongoing symptoms were causally related to a head injury from the 1990 accident; contemporaneous medical records and subsequent neurological/neuropsychological assessments outweighed later retrospective head‑injury opinions, and therefore the suspension of entitlements was upheld and the appeal dismissed.
22 Jul 2015

Ghosh v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2015] NZACC 208
Court

District Court

Objective contemporaneous medical records and respondent experts showed the head injury was minor and lacked objective evidence of concussion; multiple pre-existing stressors and psychological vulnerabilities provided a superior explanation for the appellant's clinically significant mental dysfunction, so the appellant failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that the physical injury was a substantial or material cause of his mental injury.
22 Jul 2015

Barthorpe v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2015] NZACC 204
Court

District Court

Although persistence of post-concussion symptoms was possible, the Court preferred the occupational medicine assessment that the appellant's symptoms did not prevent him performing the identified roles; the vocational independence occupational assessment was not shown to be flawed and the remuneration disparity was not so great as to render the options unsuitable, therefore the appeal was dismissed.
28 Nov 2014

Tarr v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2014] NZACC 319
Court

District Court

On the balance of probabilities the evidence did not establish that the appellant's major depression was causally linked to the 2010 physical injury because the weight of the medical evidence and history pointed to pre-existing vulnerability and multiple pre- and post-injury factors; however, the weight of medical and lay evidence established that the appellant continued to suffer post-concussion syndrome causally attributable to the 2010 injury and that this incapacity entitled him to reinstated entitlements.
9 May 2014

KG v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2014] NZACC 115
Court

District Court

Specialist neurological and rehabilitation evidence (Dr Seemann), considered with the full dossier and lay evidence of pre- and post-accident functioning, established on the balance of probabilities that the 1999 concussion remained the main precipitant of the appellant's incapacitating post-concussional syndrome as of November 2009; ACC therefore lacked a sufficient evidential basis under s117 to suspend entitlements and the suspension decision must be quashed and entitlements restored.
12 Aug 2013

A M v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2013] NZACC 247
Court

District Court

On the medical evidence available as at October 2010 (notably the reports of Dr Turner and Dr du Plessis, and absence of structural brain abnormality on MRI) there was no medical contraindication to the appellant returning to her pre-injury duties for 24 hours per week; consequently the respondent's decision to cease weekly compensation was correct and the appeal is dismissed.
13 Jul 2012

Sutton v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2012] NZACC 234
Court

District Court

The judge concluded on the balance of the medical evidence that the appellant's minor traumatic brain injury caused cognitive dysfunction that resolved slowly and, together with personality factors, caused a persisting covered mental injury (clinically significant anxiety/depression) which remained a substantial cause of ongoing symptoms; ACC's decisions to suspend and withdraw entitlements were therefore unsupported and were quashed; entitlements reinstated and costs awarded.