Tag: facet joint arthritis

Several Judgements were released today by the BC Supreme Court addressing quantum of damages in ICBC Injury Claims.  Here are the highlights of these judgements
In Guilbault v. Purser, Mr. Justice Blair from Kamloops, BC awarded a Plaintiff $75,500 in total damages as a result of an ICBC Claim arising from a August 2004 collision.  The key findings of fact were as follows:

30]            Ms. Guilbault describes the complaints which she attributes to the August 29, 2004 accident as including her right hip, neck and shoulder pain and her headaches as having slowed her down and preventing her from doing things that she has wanted to do.  Her horse breaking and wakeboarding activities have largely ended because both activities cause her neck problems.  Ms. Guilbault also testified that although her participation in many other outdoor pursuits has been diminished as a result of the injuries she has been able over time to return to those activities, just not as actively as before.  She continues to suffer some neck pain and headaches, but not to the same extent as previously and she appears to have developed mechanisms to cope with and diminish her neck pain and headaches.

[31]            I am satisfied that as a result of the August 29, 2004 accident Ms. Guilbault suffered soft tissue injuries to her neck, shoulder and right hip.  I accept that her right hip complaint was an exacerbation of a pre-existing condition which followed her being kicked by a horse approximately 10 years before.  I also find that as a result of the accident, Ms. Guilbault suffered from particularly distressing headaches.  However, I also conclude that over time the complaints emanating from the accident have been largely resolved, although she continues to suffer the occasional headache and some neck pain.

[32]            Ms. Guilbault has taken her pleasure in life from the outdoors and has enjoyed a physically active life, whether in her recreational or her employment pursuits.  I consider it likely that those interests developed in part because of her dyslexia and attention deficit disorder which made scholastic endeavours difficult to pursue, but that had no or little impact on her ability to perform and thrive on physically demanding work around her family’s farm and her recreational pursuits.  Her complaints following the August 2004 accident have impacted, I conclude, on her physical capabilities over the past four and a half years and will continue to impact on those capabilities to some degree into the future.  To Ms. Guilbault, who so relies on her physical capacities for her enjoyment of life, such injuries have a more significant impact than on those whose lifestyle is more sedentary.  The greater impact of the injuries to Ms. Guilbault and her lifestyle must be reflected in the measure of the non-pecuniary damages to which she is entitled.

The following damages were awarded:

 
In another ICBC Injury Claim Judgement released today (Haag v. Serry) Just over $120,000 in total damages were awarded to a Plaintiff injured in a 2005 collision which occurred in Surrey, BC.  
The Injuries included soft tissue injuries and the onset of symptoms in the Plaintiff’s arthritic facet joints.  Damages were awarded as follows:

[109]        In summary, my conclusions are as follows:

(a)        The accident on October 9, 2005 caused Mr. Haag to suffer soft tissue injuries and activated facet joint arthritis which has resulted in Mr. Haag suffering chronic lower back pain.

(b)        I award Mr. Haag non-pecuniary damages in the sum of $63,000, which takes into account a reduction to reflect my conclusion that Mr. Haag comes within the “crumbling skull” rule.

(c)        Mr. Haag’s claim for past income loss is dismissed.

(d)        I award Mr. Haag $60,000 for loss of earning capacity.

(e)        Mr. Haag is entitled to recover special damages in relation to the cost of physiotherapy treatments (including mileage) and for mileage in relation to his visits to Dr. Rebeyka up to the end of 2007 only.  I will leave counsel to calculate the dollar amount.  The claims for the cost of physiotherapy treatments (including mileage) and mileage in relation to Mr. Haag’s visits to Dr. Rebeyka in 2008 are dismissed.

(f)        With respect of the balance of special damages claimed, Mr. Haag is entitled to recover these amounts. 

The third ICBC Injury Claim judgement released by the BC Supreme Court today (Majewska v. Partyka) involved a 2007 collision which occurred in Coquitlam, BC.   The Plaintiff suffered a soft tissue injury to her neck, lower back and a concussion.   Her syptmoms improved by about 80% by the time of trial.  The court was unable to conclude whether the symptoms would fully recover or not.

General Damages were assessed as follows:

The last auto injury judgement released by the BC Supeme Court today was Moore v. Brown from the Victoria Registry.  This case involved serious orthopaedic and soft tissue injuries in a 2005 motorcycle accident.   Damages were assessed as follows:

Whew!  Now back to work.