The Insurer, in taking its position, was bolstered by the opinions of Dr. Monte Bail, a psychiatrist who assessed Mr. Sohi as part of the West Park Attendant Care DAC. Dr. Bail stated:
From a review of the extensive medical file material, and the assessment today, it seems that Mr. Sohi was suffering from a Major Depressive Disorder, Anxiety, and Alcoholism for a long time prior to the motor vehicle accident, even though he denied all of these things today…
While Dr. Bail accepted that Mr. Sohi suffers from serious psychiatric disorders, including a Major Depressive Order, he concluded:
I do not feel that the aftermath of his burn injury, including the scars, and restricted range of motion, is significantly related to the motor vehicle accident, and as such, from a psychiatric point of view, the psychiatric aftermath of living with the results of his self immolation [suicide attempt] are not related to the motor vehicle accident.
In his testimony, Dr. Bail downplayed the likelihood of suicide as the result of motor vehicle accidents, stating that he had never seen a similar situation in his examination of some 4,000 motor vehicle accident cases. Dr. Bail’s observation, while perhaps literally correct, is at the very least, somewhat misleading.
While the specific act of self immolation following a motor vehicle accident may well be a rarity, attempts at suicide in that context are not unheard of, even in Dr. Bail’s practice. Nor are they unknown to accident-related jurisprudence. [See note 10 below.] [See note 11 below.]
Note 10: See Gabremichael and Zurich Insurance Company (FSCO A97-002061, October 12, 1999).
Note 11: In the case of Cotic v. Gray , 33 O.R. (2d) 356, the Court of Appeal dealt with a suicide taking place some 16 months after a motor vehicle accident, upholding a finding that the suicide directly resulted from the motor vehicle accident, notwithstanding the passage of time. See also Murdoch v. British Israel World Federation (New Zealand) Inc . et al. [1942] 61 N.Z.L.R. 600.
Counsel for Mr. Sohi introduced as an exhibit, a copy of an interview with Dr. Bail posted on the website of Riverfront Evaluations, a medical assessment company which uses his services. In the interview, Dr. Bail focussed on opportunistic claims and his view of motivating factors for what he saw as an increase in claims involving “psychosocial gain .” While I accept that the excerpt of an interview by itself does not conclusively establish bias on the part of Dr. Bail, I find the attitudes expressed disquieting when taken in conjunction with his testimony in this hearing.
Dr. Bail testified at the hearing that he discounted much of Mr. Sohi’s stated concerns, because of perceived inconsistencies in the materials provided to him as well as his presentation during the interview. His reports and testimony featured a listing of Mr. Sohi’s supposed inconsistencies and contradictions. He also, in his testimony, derided the opinions of psychologists, characterizing them as little more than psychometrists, capable, if at all, of administering tests. Indeed, Dr. Bail presented as a notably partisan witness.
In Harrison and Wellington Insurance Company (FSCO A96-000785, July 23, 1998), Arbitrator Makepeace dealt with the testimony of a partisan medical examiner. She stated: “I reject Dr. Costa’s report in all other respects because he appears to have focussed mainly on identifying discrepancies in the Applicant’s claim.” Likewise, Dr. Bail’s partisan approach and his focus on inconsistencies are troubling and seriously weaken the credibility and weight of his testimony.
By way of contrast, I found both Dr. Pilowsky and Dr. Koepfler to be more balanced and professional in their assessments and their approach to Mr. Sohi’s history, even when their opinions diverged. Rather than attempting to discredit Mr. Sohi by searching for inconsistencies and divergencies, they sifted through his records, statements and history, looking for a credible explanation for his presentation.
I give little weight to Dr. Bail’s conclusions concerning the characterization of Mr. Sohi’s suicide attempt, and its triggers, especially when they conflict with the opinions of Drs. Pilowsky and Koepfler.
Even had Dr. Bail’s assessment been even-handed and unprejudiced, I would tend to discount his conclusion that the “self immolation” as he termed Mr. Sohi’s suicide attempt was due only to pre-existing and co-existing causes, and unrelated to the accident.