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DAS Canada Launches Final Video in “What’s Your Story?”

by Admin4

Toronto, Jan. 23, 2018 /insPress/ – What can Legal Expense Insurance do for you? Legal Expense Insurance (LEI) helps small business owners all over Canada with their legal issues, empowering them to defend or pursue their legal rights and get back to business.

https://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/inspress/das-canada-launches-final-video-whats-story/

2018 Pre-Budget Consultations

by Admin4

The Minister of Finance will be hosting pre-budget consultations and telephone town halls with stakeholders across the province in the upcoming year.

https://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/consultations/prebud/

Applicant is not forthright – testimony not reliable – IRBs denied – TT v Certas LAT 16-003055

by Admin4

Mr. TT was injured in a car accident on October 14, 2014. He applied to Certas SABs. Certas initially approved medical benefits and began paying him an IRB. Certas then declined to approve more treatment on the basis that Mr. TT reached the $3,500 treatment limit for soft-tissue injuries, and terminated the IRB as of March 6, 2015. Mr. TT applied to the LAT.

https://www.deutschmannlaw.com/blog/post/applicant-is-not-forthright-testimony-not-reliable-irbs-denied-tt-v-certas-lat-16-003055

INSURER’S ACTIONS SHAMEFUL

by Admin4

Re “Shameful attempts by auto insurer to fight paying a teen with catastrophic injury” (Michele Mandel, Jan. 18): Ontario’s auto insurance coverage has become a scandal — far too many injured car accident survivors are unable to access the recovery resources they need. We pay the highest premiums in Canada and yet insurers continue to deny claims, even to those as injured as this young lady was. It’s outrageous and we should all be concerned that this could happen to someone we love or someone we injure. Either way, we aren’t paying premiums so insurers and their lawyers can harass and intimidate Ontario’s injured or disabled citizens. Michele Mandel’s column tells us that this shameful behaviour is reason enough to not leave insurers in charge of fraud investigations when it’s clear they cannot be trusted in a position of power. Aviva’s apology is too little, too late and evidence that greater oversight and regulation of the insurance industry should be a priority for our government.

RHONA DESROCHES, CHAIR. FAIR ASSOCIATION OF VICTIMS FOR ACCIDENT INSURANCE REFORM

(Agreed)

http://torontosun.com/opinion/letters/letters-to-the-editor-jan-21

Ontario Acts on Marshall Report with New Changes to Auto Insurance

by Admin4

The Ontario government announced its latest round of changes to automobile insurance, called the Fair Auto Insurance Plan. This follows on the heels of the report by David Marshall, Ontario’s advisor on auto insurance, who released a report in April 2017 outlining a number of suggestions for modifying Ontario’s auto insurance regime.

https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=99a59a05-3785-4b86-a43f-1d39f21224fc

Ontario’s tough distracted driving laws one step closer to taking effect

by Admin4

New rules that will mean automatic driver’s licence suspension for convicted distracted drivers in Ontario will soon take effect after receiving Royal Assent, 680NEWS has learned.

“The law has been passed — it’s now just a matter of time,” Toronto police Const. Clint Stibbe told 680 NEWS on Monday.

http://toronto.citynews.ca/2018/01/15/ontario-distracted-driving-laws/

Judge blasts lawyers over $3,500 dispute

by Admin4

An Ontario judge has criticized the conduct of two personal injury lawyers as “shameful” in a dispute over less than $3,500.

In Cozzi v. Sidiropoulos, lawyer Peter Cozzi brought a claim against Joseph Sidiropoulos, alleging he had failed in an undertaking to protect his account after the transfer of a file, as he had not paid the account. A client had retained Sidiropoulos to take over an action in which Cozzi had previously represented the client.

http://www.lawtimesnews.com/author/alex-robinson/judge-blasts-lawyers-over-3500-dispute-15223/

Medical Malpractice Lawsuit is barred for being commenced too late

by Admin4

Pursuant to the Limitations Act, there is a two-year limitation period for commencing a civil suit, beginning from the point the claim was discovered. In most cases, the two-year period begins from the date the person was injured in an accident, but may be extended if a person did not realize they had grounds to make a claim against the negligent party until past this date.

https://www.ilolaw.ca/blogpost/plaintiffs-negligence-lawsuit-is-barred-for-being-past-limitation-period

ABI Recovery Magazine

by Admin4

The mission of ABI Recovery Magazine™ (a digital eZine) is to promote and help those who help survivors and their families heal and recover to their fullest potential from Acquired Traumatic Brain Injury and/or Brain Stroke. We aim to bridge the knowledge gap and provide an outlet of information and connect survivors and professionals to services available today in Canada ….’but with a global reach’. ARM already, in its first year has subscribers all over the world.

http://pickinguppieces.net/abi-recovery-magazine/

Jedean and Aviva FSCO Arbitration, 2018-01-11

by Admin4

https://www5.fsco.gov.on.ca/AD/5464

The Applicant was questioned on a number of statements in Dr. Karabatsos’ report and she did not disagree with the range of motion in her back that he noted. She testified that she can move her neck but she has pain. She is able to bend and move her back but she has pain. She did not mention her anxiety and sleep difficulties to Dr. Karabatsos. He had misstated the extent of her functioning on a day-to-day basis including elements that she testified she could not in fact do. He agreed that he knew she was on modified duties at work at the time of the assessment but chose not to include that in his report, “a simple omission on our part”.

Dr. Karabatsos did acknowledge in cross-examination that some people take longer to recover than others and some can develop chronic pain. He testified under cross-examination that older people will take longer to recover and that pre-existing conditions can affect recovery time if the injury is to the joint itself. The severity of the impact of the accident may also play a role and in this case he viewed the accident impact as moderate. Further, he is familiar with chronic pain as persistent pain and to satisfy a chronic pain diagnosis there must be significant psychological sequelae. In his experience such patients are reliant on significant medications and treatment and tend to become socially withdrawn.

…..

I do not accept the evidence of Dr. Karabatsos in this matter. He specializes in lower extremities reconstruction and general orthopaedics according to his qualifications set out in his report. He gave too little weight and regard to the fact that at the time of her assessment she was in the midst of regular treatment that provided relief from her symptoms and under prescription medication that would, if it were effective, give her relief from inflammation and pain allowing her to move more easily. He appears to have ignored her pain complaints, that she was taking medication that would impact both her movement and her pain level, and that her functioning was compromised, i.e. he omitted to include in his report that she was on modified work duties. He testified that in his practice his patients post-surgery have a follow-up appointment with him and a physiotherapist who instructs them on exercises to do at home and “they all get better”, an outcome many accident victims only dream of.

Also he did not have a full documentary record. In September 2014, he assessed the Applicant about a week after the disability certificate was signed but this document was not provided to him; he was given only the Application for Accident Benefits dated August 14, 2014 and the disputed OCF-18. He did not have and apparently was never given the clinical notes and records of the Applicant’s family doctor, all of which dating back to 2010 have now been made available together with imaging results. At the time of Dr. Karabatsos’ assessment the Applicant was only seven weeks post-accident and had had only seven treatments which had started August 5, 2014. She was therefore within Block 2 of the treatment under the MIG (Section 8(ii)). The MIG contemplates that only if the insured person has achieved maximal recovery at the end of eight weeks is treatment to be stopped. Therefore, even if the injuries fall within the MIG, the Applicant was entitled as of right to at least two more weeks of treatment under Block 2 or the full 12 weeks or 3 blocks of treatment, whereas Dr. Karabatsos seems to be of the view that even at this stage, and despite her experiencing pain in the test for range of motion, she has had “extensive” or enough treatment.

Further, while the answers to the questions at the conclusion of his report are given without qualification, in the body of his report, Dr. Karabatsos is careful to note the limitation of his expertise and to confine himself to testing the neck, upper and lower extremities and spine. He opines only on the neck, back and shoulder injuries. He was well aware that she suffered other injuries. He failed to address the hand tremor which she said was made worse by the accident and pain in the temporal mandibular joint and headaches in stating his opinion on the MIG. He did not even flag these as areas that might well be investigated by someone with the expertise to do so before Aviva drew a conclusion as to the nature of her injuries or her ability to recover under the MIG course of treatment.