Applicant designated catastrophically impaired; Schedule does not require 24-month waiting period for ASIA scale permanent grade.
The applicant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and sought a determination of catastrophic impairment under the Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule based on a spinal cord injury.
The respondent denied the designation, arguing that the applicant's ASIA Impairment Scale grade was not yet "permanent" because the injury had the potential to improve over the initial 18-24 months.
The adjudicator found that the applicant met the definition of catastrophic impairment, noting that her ASIA Impairment Scale score of "D" satisfied the criteria and there was no evidence she would improve to a normal "E" score.
The adjudicator rejected the respondent's argument that a 24-month waiting period was required, as paragraph 1 of section 3.1(1) contains no such temporal requirement.
OLATOntario Licence Appeal TribunalFeb 10, 2020
