The Court further found that the SABS and the AMA guides do not "articulate a policy position against combination" and that to deny persons with combined physical and psychiatric impairments the right to claim enhanced benefits is unfair.
In rendering this verdict, the Court of Appeal appears to have departed from the principles of statutory interpretation as established by the Supreme Court of Canada and as relied on by the Honourable Justice Lauwers.
This decision confirms that an accident victim does not have to establish catastrophic impairment on the basis of physical impairments alone, or psychological impairments alone. Instead, the accident victim is entitled to have his or her psychological impairments combined with his or her physical impairments to determine if he or she is entitled to the protection provided by a catastrophic impairment designation.
Read the complete court decision.
