New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments | LexChat

Topic

Statutory interpretation of s34

Legal area

Court

24 Mar 2009

Ward v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2009] NZACC 43
Court

District Court

The court upheld ACC's decision: the knee malalignment was within expected outcome range for total knee replacement, was not shown to be 'severe' or 'rare' as required by s34, had no causal connection to the accepted nerve injury, and therefore did not qualify as medical mishap or medical misadventure warranting cover.
19 Mar 2004

Grace v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2004] NZACC 65
Court

District Court

Although the appellant's symptoms met the statutory definition of a medical mishap, he failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that the 13 August 2001 surgery caused his ongoing numbness; contemporaneous medical opinion established a more probable causal explanation (pre-operative acute exacerbation of carpal tunnel compression) and coincidence alone did not establish the necessary causal nexus, therefore the appeal was dismissed.