4 Nov 2016
Having considered additional evidence and expert reports, and applying Mehrtens factors and the Ambros inference, the Court preferred the treating surgeon Mr Love's coherent clinical opinion and found on the balance of probabilities that the December 2011 accident most probably caused the appellant's labral tear; the reviewer’s declinature was quashed and ACC must fund the proposed surgery.
12 Aug 2016
The Court accepted the Clinical Advisory Panel's analysis that the labral tear and arthroscopic findings were most consistent with longstanding mixed cam and pincer femoroacetabular impingement and degenerative change present before and after 2008, and that the alleged 2008 accidents did not provide a mechanism consistent with an acute traumatic tear; therefore the need for surgery was not caused by a covered injury and ACC's decline to fund was upheld.
1 Jul 2016
On the balance of probabilities the appellant's labral pathology and resulting need for surgery were caused by a gradual repetitive femoroacetabular impingement process on a background of altered bony morphology and pre-existing symptoms, not by the 2011 mountain bike accident; therefore ACC's decision to decline funding was correct and the appeal is dismissed.
7 May 2015
The reviewer and Court accepted the persuasive collective CAP opinion that the appellant had pre-existing CAM morphology and that the index incident at best rendered that pre-existing condition symptomatic; the appellant failed to establish on the balance of probabilities that the accident caused the labral tear and need for surgery, therefore the reviewer's decision was correct and the appeal is dismissed.
27 Jan 2015
On the balance of probabilities the medical and radiological evidence, including bilateral cam‑type FAI morphology and the 11‑month delay in presentation, make it more likely that a pre‑existing impingement condition rendered symptomatic explains the need for surgery rather than a new labral tear caused by the October 2010 accident; accordingly ACC's refusal to fund surgery was upheld.
11 Jul 2013
The Judge accepted the treating surgeon's evidence that the uncontrolled fall on 17 April 2010 caused a fresh articular cartilage flap and persistent painful symptoms requiring surgery; radiological FAI risk factors were common and not inevitably symptomatic, so the accident itself contributed to the requirement for surgery and the review decision denying cover was quashed.