Dr. Thomas John

Following a jury trial for a motor vehicle accident, the defendants brought a threshold motion arguing the plaintiff was barred from recovering non-pecuniary and health care damages under the Insurance Act.

The jury had awarded $10,000 in general damages and $37,133.13 in medical expenses.

The trial judge applied the three-pronged test from Meyer v. Bright and found the plaintiff, a former school principal, suffered permanent serious impairment due to chronic pain syndrome and soft tissue injuries.

The court held the plaintiff met the statutory threshold, dismissing the defendants' motion and allowing the plaintiff to recover the damages awarded by the jury.

The appellant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and received income replacement benefits.

The insurer terminated benefits, arguing the appellant's ongoing disability was due to a pre-existing schizoaffective disorder rather than the accident.

The arbitrator agreed, finding the accident's material contribution to the disability ended by August 2001, and dismissed claims for various assessment expenses.

On appeal, the Director's Delegate upheld the arbitrator's decisions, finding no error of law in the arbitrator's evaluation of the medical evidence, the impact of the appellant's pre-existing condition, or the rejection of assessment expenses.

The applicant was injured in a motor vehicle accident and sought statutory accident benefits, including income replacement benefits and medical/rehabilitation expenses.

The insurer terminated benefits, arguing the applicant's disability was due to a pre-existing schizoaffective disorder rather than the accident.

The arbitrator found that the trauma of the accident triggered an episode of the applicant's pre-existing psychiatric illness, entitling him to income replacement benefits for a limited period.

Claims for various assessments were largely dismissed, save for one functional capacity evaluation.

The claim for a special award was dismissed as the insurer's termination of benefits was not unreasonable given the complex medical evidence.