New Zealand Case Law: Decisions & Judgments

Topic

Medical causation

Legal area

Court

16 May 2019

Billington v Accident Compensation Corporation (Cover Issues)

Citation

[2019] NZACC 47
Court

District Court

On the balance of probabilities the evidence established chronic rotator cuff pathology predating the 13 September 2016 quad bike accident; imaging and intraoperative signs of chronicity (tendon retraction, muscle atrophy, ACJ arthropathy, high riding humeral head) indicate attritional tears. The quad bike event at most aggravated pre-existing disease and did not cause new tendon rupture; therefore the condition is excluded as a gradual process and ACC's decision to decline cover is upheld.
2 Feb 2018

Hansen v Accident Compensation Corporation (Entitlement to Surgery)

Citation

[2018] NZACC 19
Court

District Court

The judge preferred the analyses of the orthopaedic reviewer, physiotherapy clinical advisor and CAP over the treating surgeon because the contemporaneous records recorded a different, less traumatic mechanism, the imaging demonstrated features consistent with longstanding degenerative/repetitive impingement (including paralabral cyst and osteochondral change) and the treating surgeon's causal opinion relied on an account of the mechanism that conflicted with earlier records; on the balance of probabilities causation by the 20 January 2014 accident was not established and the requested surger…
21 Oct 2016

HH v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2016] NZACC 286
Court

District Court

On the balance of probabilities the appellant failed to establish that she has PCOS under the internationally accepted Rotterdam diagnostic criteria and failed to establish a causal link between PCOS and antipsychotic medication; the court preferred the specialist opinion of Dr Kee over the other material and accordingly upheld ACC's decision declining cover for PCOS and dismissed the appeal.
26 May 2016

Graham v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2016] NZACC 148
Court

District Court

On the balance of probabilities the need for surgery was substantially caused by an underlying degenerative process of the lumbar spine rather than the 28 July 2012 accident; accordingly the Corporation's decision to decline cover was justified and the appeal is dismissed.
25 May 2016

Holley-Schnetzer v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2016] NZACC 144
Court

District Court

On the balance of probabilities the appellant failed to establish that the chondral flap requiring surgery was causally linked to the December 2013 accidents; contemporaneous symptoms, imaging, and independent expert opinion undermined the treating surgeon's causal opinion, so the Corporation's decision to revoke cover for the meniscal injury and decline funding for surgery was justified and must be upheld.
31 Mar 2016

Hill v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2016] NZACC 77
Court

District Court

On the balance of probabilities the evidence did not establish a sufficient causal nexus between the 21 June 2013 accident and the osteolysis requiring surgery; imaging, intraoperative findings, timing and expert (CAP) opinion indicated an underlying degenerative condition rendered symptomatic by the incident rather than post‑traumatic osteolysis, therefore the Corporation's decline of funding was upheld and the appeal dismissed.
16 Dec 2015

Gillespie v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2015] NZACC 390
Court

District Court

The Court concluded that by the date of the challenged decision the respondent had a sufficient evidential basis to be 'not satisfied' that the appellant's ongoing symptoms were causally connected to the 2006 injury; on the balance of probabilities the necessary causal nexus had not been established and the suspension of entitlement was upheld.
18 Nov 2015

Estate BR Nichols v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2015] NZACC 352
Court

District Court

The application for leave was dismissed because the questions advanced were factual determinations or not arguable questions of law: Judge Beattie properly considered the scope of cover, treated opiate dependency as excluded, accepted medical evidence that a pre-existing pain disorder principally explained incapacity, and suspension of weekly compensation was a factual assessment of causation rather than a legal error warranting leave to appeal.
16 Nov 2015

Hartshorne v Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2015] NZACC 351
Court

District Court

On balance the specialist orthopaedic evidence, MRI findings and corrected workplace functional evidence established the covered shoulder injury had not resolved and the appellant was unable to return to her pre-injury employment; accordingly the Corporation lacked a sufficient basis to suspend weekly compensation and the suspension must be quashed and entitlements reinstated.
30 Oct 2015

Rogers Accident Compensation Corporation

Citation

[2015] NZACC 324
Court

District Court

The Corporation lacked a sufficient basis to suspend entitlements because it failed to analyse the nature and scope of the extant 1995 cover (lumbar disc prolapse with radiculopathy) against the claimant's ongoing symptoms; absent that analysis ACC could not properly be 'not satisfied' under s117(1), therefore the suspension was unlawful and must be quashed and entitlements reinstated and backdated.