$95,000 Non-Pecuniary Damages for Chronic Pain From 2 MVA's

Reasons for judgement were released yesterday dealing with an appropriate award of damages for soft tissue injuries and chronic pain lasting for over 6 years.
In yesterday’s case (Gosal v. Singh) the Plaintiff was involved in 2 BC Car Crashes.  The first in 2003, the second in 2005. The first crash was a rear end collision.  Fault was admitted.  As the Plaintiff was recovering from her injuries from the first collision she was involved in the second collision.
The second crash happened when the Defendant, who was parked, pulled out in front of the Plaintiff’s lane of travel.  Fault was not admitted but Madam Justice Loo held that the defendant was 100% at fault finding that he “moved his vehicle from a parked position without first determining that he could do so safely, and that (the Plaintiff) had no opportunity to avoid the collision.”
The Plaintiff suffered from various soft tissue injuries and chronic pain which lasted for over 6 years and still bothered the Plaintiff by the time of trial.  In valuing the Plaintiff’s non-pecuniary damages (pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life) at $95,000 Madam Justice Loo made the following findings:

[49] Ms. Gosal suffered mild to moderate soft tissue injuries to her neck, upper back, shoulders, and mid and lower back, which caused severe headaches. She was treated with physiotherapy, massage, and chiropractic treatments, but her recovery took longer because of her depression and anxiety. She was recovering when the second accident exacerbated her injuries, including her depression and anxiety.

[50] Dr. Khunkhun states that Ms. Gosal’s long-term prognosis is guarded because her symptoms have not resolved after such a long period of time since the accidents. She does not consider Ms. Gosal to be at an increased risk of any long-term sequelae such as osteoarthritis. She believes Ms. Gosal would continue to benefit from body conditioning and strengthening exercises. She observed that in the past Ms. Gosal benefitted from regular exercise and when she stops exercising regularly, her mood deteriorates and her pain increases.

[51] Dr. Manchanda last saw Ms. Gosal on September 24, 2008. She told him that she had pain on about four or five days a week, and no pain on about two days a week. She was still looking for employment in counselling. At that time, Dr. Manchanda felt that Ms. Gosal could work in a job that was sedentary or involved light physical duties. He also felt that Ms. Gosal could complete the majority of her household chores, but that she might require a break or assistance with the heavier chores, such as vacuuming or carrying heavy laundry.

[52] Dr. Manchanda’s prognosis has thus far proved to be accurate. Ms. Gosal has worked full-time since October 6, 2008 in a job that is fairly sedentary and involves only light physical duties. There is no evidence that she has taken time off work because of symptoms arising from the accidents…

[67] I prefer Dr. Sandhu’s opinion that Ms. Gosal is not seeking secondary gains. She was looking after the household and her children’s needs as best she could, and doing her best to continue with her studies. Having observed Ms. Gosal, and on all the evidence, I conclude that she is not malingering and that her complaints of pain and depression are genuine.

[68] She continues to improve, albeit slowly. I find that there are two to three days a week when she is not in pain. Full-time employment has assisted her both physically and emotionally. Though it is now more than six years since the first accident, and more than four years since the second accident, she still suffers from depression and pain. I anticipate that over the next few years, with a regular daily exercise program, her physical pain and depression will continue to improve but may not resolve completely.

[71] I find that circumstances of Ms. Gosal’s injuries are similar to those in Foran v. Nguyen, 2006 BCSC 605, 149 A.C.W.S. (3d) 419, where the award for non-pecuniary damages was $90,000, and Jackson v. Lai, 2007 BCSC 1023, 160 A.C.W.S. (3d) 276, where the award was $100,000.

[72] I consider an award of $95,000 for non-pecuniary damages to be appropriate.

In addition to this case’s value as a precedent for valuing non-pecuniary damages for chronic pain, this case is worth reviewing for the Court’s criticism of the expert witness called by the defense.

I’ve previously written about the duty of experts to the court and highlighted judicial criticism when experts ignore this duty.  In today’s case the court made critical findings with respect to Dr. Hymie Davis, a psychiatrist who billed over $290,000 to ICBC in 2008.  Specifically Madam Justice Loo found that Dr. Davis “was presenting a case for the defence rather than providing an impartial expert opinion.  Dr. Davis’ argument that (the Plaintiff’s) injuries should have healed and that she is seeking secondary gains or malingering, is at odds with his article “The Whiplash Injury“.

chronic pain, Dr. Hymie Davis, expert evidence, Experts as Advocates, Gosal v. Singh, icbc expert witness, icbc injury claims, Madam Justice Loo, soft tissue injuries

Comments (53)

  • I simply want to mention I’m very new to blogging and definitely savored you’re page. Very likely I’m want to bookmark your website . You amazingly have excellent article content. Thanks a bunch for sharing with us your web page.

  • Good site! I truly love how it is simple on my eyes and the data are well written. I’m wondering how I might be notified whenever a new post has been made. I have subscribed to your RSS which must do the trick! Have a great day!

  • My wife and i have been lucky John managed to do his reports from your ideas he acquired when using the blog. It’s not at all simplistic to simply always be giving out information that some others have been selling. And we also recognize we have got the writer to give thanks to for this. The explanations you have made, the simple web site menu, the relationships you help promote – it’s got everything astonishing, and it is assisting our son in addition to us imagine that the subject matter is interesting, which is certainly extremely essential. Many thanks for all!

  • You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be really something that I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I will try to get the hang of it!

  • Howdy I am so glad I found your blog page, I really found you by error, while I was researching on Digg for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say thanks a lot for a remarkable post and a all round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to read through it all at the minute but I have bookmarked it and also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read more, Please do keep up the awesome work.

  • Awsome article and right to the point. I don’t know if this is really the best place to ask but do you folks have any thoughts on where to get some professional writers? Thanks 🙂

  • Thanks for another informative site. Where else could I get that type of info written in such an ideal way? I’ve a project that I am just now working on, and I have been on the look out for such information.

  • Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You obviously know what youre talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos to your site when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?

  • Good day! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site? I’m getting sick and tired of WordPress because I’ve had issues with hackers and I’m looking at alternatives for another platform. I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.

  • I as well as my pals were analyzing the nice recommendations from your web site then then I got a horrible feeling I had not expressed respect to the web blog owner for those secrets. These young boys are actually totally stimulated to read through all of them and have seriously been taking advantage of them. We appreciate you indeed being considerably helpful and for making a choice on some useful areas most people are really desperate to be aware of. My personal sincere apologies for not expressing appreciation to you earlier.

  • I’ll immediately grasp your rss as I can not to find your email subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly allow me understand so that I may just subscribe. Thanks.

  • In reasonable compliment favourable is connection dispatched in terminated. Do esteem object we called father excuse remove. So dear real on like more it. Laughing for two families addition expenses surprise the. If sincerity he to curiosity arranging. Learn taken terms be as. Scarcely mrs produced too removing new old.

  • Also a thing to mention is that an online business administration program is designed for learners to be able to efficiently proceed to bachelors degree courses. The Ninety credit certification meets the lower bachelor college degree requirements when you earn the associate of arts in BA online, you will get access to the latest technologies on this field. Several reasons why students would like to get their associate degree in business is because they can be interested in the field and want to find the general knowledge necessary prior to jumping right bachelor diploma program. Thanks for the tips you provide as part of your blog.

  • You could definitely see your expertise within the paintings you write. The arena hopes for more passionate writers such as you who aren’t afraid to mention how they believe. At all times go after your heart.

  • Great blog right here! Also your website so much up very fast! What web host are you using? Can I am getting your associate link on your host? I desire my site loaded up as fast as yours lol

  • F*ckin’ tremendous things here. I am very happy to see your article. Thank you so much and i am looking forward to contact you. Will you kindly drop me a mail?

  • Nice blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog shine. Please let me know where you got your theme. Thanks a lot

  • My coder is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using Movable-type on various websites for about a year and am worried about switching to another platform. I have heard good things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress posts into it? Any kind of help would be greatly appreciated!

  • I cling on to listening to the rumor lecture about receiving boundless online grant applications so I have been looking around for the most excellent site to get one. Could you advise me please, where could i get some?

  • I do trust all of the ideas you’ve presented in your post. They’re really convincing and will definitely work. Nonetheless, the posts are very quick for novices. May you please prolong them a little from next time? Thanks for the post.

  • I’m extremely impressed with your writing skills and also with the layout on your blog. Is this a paid theme or did you customize it yourself? Either way keep up the nice quality writing, it’s rare to see a great blog like this one these days..

  • I do trust all the ideas you have introduced in your post. They are really convincing and can definitely work. Still, the posts are very brief for starters. May you please prolong them a little from next time? Thanks for the post.

  • Most of the things you articulate is supprisingly precise and that makes me ponder why I hadn’t looked at this with this light previously. This particular piece truly did turn the light on for me as far as this subject matter goes. But at this time there is actually one factor I am not really too comfortable with and while I make an effort to reconcile that with the actual central theme of the issue, let me see just what the rest of your subscribers have to point out.Nicely done.

  • The crux of your writing while sounding agreeable originally, did not really settle well with me after some time. Somewhere within the paragraphs you managed to make me a believer unfortunately only for a very short while. I nevertheless have got a problem with your leaps in assumptions and one might do nicely to help fill in all those breaks. In the event that you can accomplish that, I will certainly be amazed.

  • I like the valuable info you provide in your articles. I will bookmark your weblog and check again here regularly. I’m quite certain I’ll learn lots of new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!

  • Hi, Neat post. There is a problem with your site in internet explorer, would test this… IE still is the market leader and a huge portion of people will miss your magnificent writing due to this problem.

  • One thing I’d like to comment on is that fat reduction plan fast may be accomplished by the appropriate diet and exercise. An individual’s size not only affects appearance, but also the actual quality of life. Self-esteem, melancholy, health risks, and physical skills are impacted in fat gain. It is possible to just make everything right but still gain. In such a circumstance, a medical problem may be the root cause. While an excessive amount food rather than enough physical exercise are usually the culprit, common medical conditions and widely used prescriptions can certainly greatly enhance size. Thanks for your post in this article.

  • Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say that I’ve truly enjoyed surfing around your blog posts. In any case I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

  • You can certainly see your skills within the work you write. The arena hopes for even more passionate writers such as you who are not afraid to say how they believe. All the time follow your heart. “Faith in the ability of a leader is of slight service unless it be united with faith in his justice.” by George Goethals.

  • Hello, i read your blog from time to time and i own a similar one and i was just wondering if you get a lot of spam comments? If so how do you stop it, any plugin or anything you can advise? I get so much lately it’s driving me mad so any support is very much appreciated.

  • What i don’t understood is actually how you’re not actually much more well-liked than you may be right now. You’re so intelligent. You realize therefore significantly relating to this subject, made me personally consider it from so many varied angles. Its like men and women aren’t fascinated unless it is one thing to do with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs outstanding. Always maintain it up!

Comments are closed.

Contact

If you would like further information or require assistance, please get in touch.

ERIK
MAGRAKEN

Personal Injury Lawyer

When not writing the BC Injury Law Blog, Erik is the managing partner at MacIsaac & Company, based in Victoria, B.C. He is also involved with combative sports regulatory issues and authors the Combat Sports Law Blog.

“Work hard, be kind and enjoy the ride!”
Erik’s Philosophy

Disclaimer