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FSCO orders claimant to produce medical records of alleged prior accidents


April 15, 2010   by Canadian Underwriter


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The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has ordered a claimant to produce OHIP records and the clinical notes of his family doctor dating back to motor vehicle accidents that allegedly occurred up to five years prior to the 2005 accident that was the subject of arbitration.
The applicant, Karel Paskoe, was involved in a motor vehicle accident on Aug. 23, 2005. He agreed to provide records of his family doctor and OHIP records to his insurer, Motors Insurance Corporation, up to one year prior to the 2005 accident.
Some of the medical documents he produced referred to previous accidents.
For example, a 2007 physiotherapy assessment report noted Paskoe was involved in a minor accident in 2000. And a separate 2007 Paramount Rehabilitation Centre Inc. report stated: “Mr. Paskoe reported that he had previous motor vehicle accidents in 2001 and 2002. He was injured but recovered.”
Motors took the position that since the condition about which Paskoe complained is progressive, it would be unfair to restrict the production of pre-accident medical records to one year — particularly in light of evidence that suggested Paskoe sustained injuries in motor vehicle accidents occurring in 2000, 2001 and 2002.
Paskoe said the apparent inconsistencies in the medical reports were not a result of how he reported the information to the medical assessors in question.
He further argued that in the absence of supporting and reliable evidence produced by the insurer about the relevance of the medical reports to be produced, the claimant should be given the benefit of the doubt.
But the “references in the medical reports to earlier accidents provide a foundation for Motors to amplify the scope of foundations,” FSCO arbitrator Judith Killoran wrote in her decision. “Motors requires further medical information to properly assess questions of causation and quantum….
“I find it is reasonable and relevant for Mr. Paskoe to produce OHIP records and the clinical notes and records of his family doctor dating back to prior motor vehicle accidents as early as 2000.”


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