Ontario’s Auto Accident Victims in Crisis

Victim’s Group Calls for Ontario Auditor General to investigate and report on the Auto Insurance Sector

A recent StatsCan Civil Court Survey revealed that there are now 61,063 auto insurance related cases waiting for hearings in Ontario’s Superior Court.

According to the 2013 Minister of Finance DRS Report there were over 30,000 unresolved claim disputes at the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.

This is an unprecedented number of innocent and injured victims who have not had their claims properly handled by the insurer whom they paid to assist them in a time of need. Many of these seriously injured victims are without timely access to treatment and rehabilitation and they face a wait of up to 10 years or more to hold their insurer accountable.

Ontario drivers pay the highest prices in Canada for insurance, almost double what some other Provinces are paying for similar coverage. With so many unresolved claims in the system it is time to take a hard look at whether our government should be legislating Ontarians to buy this inferior product.

According to the Auditor General’s 2011 Report on auto insurance about half of all claims are turned down by Ontario insurers. What the AG report doesn’t talk about is how these claims are turned down. Victims are forced to attend multiple and excessive medical examinations by their insurer in course of a claim. Insurers spend more on assessing a victim than they do on treatment and rehabilitation according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s own statistics in the HCDB Standard Report.

Insurer medical examinations (IME) are often performed by biased and even unqualified medical ‘experts’ whose incomes rely on the insurer who hires them and these assessors operate with virtually no regulatory oversight. These bogus medical opinions are the tool used to deny claims and are at the core of the court backlog.

Victims are being downloaded at an alarming rate onto OHIP and our public system of Welfare, Ontario Disability and CPP Disability programs that are underfunded and unable to provide adequate care for victims.

Not only do victims face a personal crisis but they are faced with hiring a legal representative in a province where the cost for legal representation is the highest in Canada. Many victims hire more than one lawyer during the course of a claim and there is plenty of evidence that the quality of the services and the billing practices of that sector are also harming MVA victims.

We pay our premiums and we should be able to access the coverage we paid so handsomely for. What we have is legislators who are listening only to the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s incessant calls to slash benefits and our government is now onboard with blocking victim’s access to fair and balanced hearings in court through Bill 15.

When insurers don’t pay we all will. We are paying for private insurers who, according to the OTLA’s recent report, are making unprecedented and excessive profits on the backs of victims they refuse to pay.

We invite the public to join FAIR and we ask our elected MPPs to join in the call to the Auditor General to review and report on the auto insurance sector.

About FAIR Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform – FAIR is a grassroots not-for-profit organization of auto accident victims and their supporters who have struggled with the current auto insurance system in Ontario. http://www.fairassociation.ca/

For further information contact: Rhona DesRoches, FAIR, Board Chair, fairautoinsurance@gmail.com, Tel: 705 543-0574

IBC Fact Check: Trial lawyers’ 40% fees gut victims’ benefits

40%: That’s the share that some personal injury lawyers in Ontario take from accident victims in contingency fees. While many lawyers take less – a quarter or a third – insurers and drivers all agree: lawyers’ fees are simply too high and have a significant impact on the cost of auto insurance.

More/source:
http://www.ilstv.com/ibc-fact-check-trial-lawyers-40-fees-gut-victims-benefits/#.VS6aHfBqS1A

Fee cap proposed for personal-injury lawyers

Days after an opening salvo from the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, the insurance industry has replied with its own broadside, endorsing a proposed fee cap on personal-injury lawyers.

More/source:
http://www.insurancebusiness.ca/news/fee-cap-proposed-for-personalinjury-lawyers-190277.aspx

The Truth Revealed About Insurance Companies’ Profits in Ontario

York University Schulich School of Business conclude in a recent study that for the period 2001 to 2013 consumers in Ontario have likely overpaid for auto insurance by between $3 and $4 billion. 

This money has not gone to accident victims nor to lower premiums for consumers – instead this money has gone straight to the insurance companies coffers. In 2010, deep cuts were made to auto insurance benefits payable to those injured in auto collisions. 


More/source:
http://otlablog.com/ontario-insurance-profits/

College of Physicians slow to censure silent bystanders: Porter

We heard more rich evidence yesterday that the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario can't be trusted to police themselves.

More/source:
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2015/04/13/college-of-physicians-slow-to-censure-silent-bystanders-porter.html

The Spectator's View: Insurance: We get the problem, what’s the fix?

No doubt your reaction was something like ours when you read the following headline and story in Saturday's Spectator: "Drivers overpaying for auto insurance: study" 

 

Really? Quelle surprise! We need a study to tell us that? How many times have we been told by experts, studies and even the provincial government that auto insurance rates are artificially high in Ontario? This time, the culprit, apparently, is a miscalculation that allows insurers to realize too much profit due to an unrealistic benchmark set by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.

More/source:
http://www.insidebrockville.com/opinion-story/5555415-the-spectator-s-view-insurance-we-get-the-problem-what-s-the-fix-/

Question Period: Social Security Tribunal

https://www.youtube.com/embed/61KIM-q5-pc

Who Is Profiting Most From Ontario Auto Insurance?

If you are involved in the auto insurance sector, yesterday was an interesting day.  The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association released a study conducted on their behalf by two York University professors suggested that insurance companies make too much money.  The Insurance Bureau of Canada countered with accusations that trial lawyers make too much money.  Who do you believe?

A lot of people have profited from Ontario's auto insurance system over the past 25 years.  Few insurance companies have exited the Ontario market in that period of time so profits must be good.  In addition, there is no shortage of lawyers working in the system both on the accident benefits side and in tort.  There are rehabilitation clinics dying for more referrals.  Tow trucks drive around our highways ready to pounce on someone after a collision.  Yet everyone complains.  Drivers in this province continue to pay high premiums. They are the true victims in the system.

On June 22, 2015 it will be 25 years since the introduction of the Ontario Motorist Protection Plan or OMPP, the first no-fault auto insurance plan in Ontario.  It has been a rocky road.  In the May 2015 issue of Canadian Underwriter, I will look back at those 25 years and discuss what has gone wrong.  Please look out for it. 



More/source:
http://williehandler.blogspot.ca/

MD’s letter a wakeup call for Ontarians

How can our elected government with any conscience cut medical services

Oh yes it is easier to give in to the powerful lobbies and bully the weak ones

Years of mismanagement by successive provincial governments have brought Ontario deficit to a point where credit rating agencies are threatening to downgrade Ontario debt.

Liberals, in desperate need of more revenue, are considering selling Hydro One, a public asset that is actually generating revenue and it looks very much like this will be another blunder, similar to the 407 fiasco. We have no money to pay our doctors and user fees are proliferating. We are way behind and in desperate need of new roads and transportation infrastructure.

More/source:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2015/04/13/mds-letter-a-wakeup-call-for-ontarians.html

Study claiming Ontarians overpay for auto insurance excludes carriers with negative return on equity

A recent study that concludes Ontario consumers "may have overpaid" $3 to $4 billion for auto insurance between 2001 and 2013 actually excluded the carriers with negative return on equity in Ontario auto, the Insurance Bureau of Canada and the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario (IBAO) suggest.

More/source:
http://www.canadianunderwriter.ca/news/study-claiming-ontarians-overpay-for-auto-insurance-excludes-carriers-with-negative-return-in-equity/1003567346/

Ontario drivers overcharged $3 billion on insurance: Study

Drivers in Ontario overpaid on their auto insurance by about $3 billion over the past decade – even as accident benefits have been cut.

More/source:
http://www.insurancebusiness.ca/news/ontario-drivers-overcharged-3-billion-on-insurance-study-190204.aspx

We Were Right.. Auto Insurance Rates Are Too High

If you’re one of the multitude of Ontario drivers who figured you were getting ripped off on your auto insurance, it turns out you were probably right.

A study commissioned by the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association found that something called the Profit Benchmark, which is used to set rates is way out of whack .

 

More/source:

Hamilton, ON, Canada / AM900 CHML | Hamilton News

Bill Kelly April 13, 2015 05:22 am

http://www.900chml.com/2015/04/13/we-were-right-auto-insurance-rates-are-too-high/

Ontario’s auditor general should investigate auto insurance rates: Editorial

It’s no secret that Ontario residents are forced to pay a lot for auto insurance — we face rates that are 45 per cent higher than in Alberta, and about double what they are in the Maritimes. Hard-pressed consumers deserve more assurance that they aren’t being gouged.

More/source:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2015/04/13/ontarios-auditor-general-should-investigate-auto-insurance-rates-editorial.html

List of Currently Disciplined Practitioners

Perhaps Canada could do the same as the US in this area of transparency.
PDFs included.

Oh, I forgot we just let them keep working.

More/source:
http://www.justice.gov/eoir/discipline.htm

Toronto Star's View: Ontario’s auditor general should investigate auto insurance rates

Ontario’s auditor general should investigate auto insurance rates after a new study found that Ontarians are being grossly over-charged

OurWindsor.Ca

A new study showing Ontarians were likely over-charged for auto insurance by $840 million, in one year alone, is sufficient cause for a fresh investigation by the province’s auditor general. 

More/source:

http://www.ourwindsor.ca/opinion-story/5553990-toronto-star-s-view-ontario-s-auditor-general-should-investigate-auto-insurance-rates/

 

Doctors can bully patients with disabilities: Goar

Woman in wheelchair stands up to the doctor who she says refused to remove her malignant tumour 

Her aim is to show people in the disabled community they can stand up to doctors who bully, patronize or silence them. Her ultimate objective is to change the pattern of medical discrimination against patients with disabilities.  

More/source:

http://www.ourwindsor.ca/opinion-story/5550780-doctors-can-bully-patients-with-disabilities-goar/

Have your say to FSCO's Draft 2015 Statement of Priorities

Don't like what we are being forced to purchase? Think you are being ripped off and mistreated? How about that non-existent oversight? Or the go-nowhere complaints process? Sick of waiting up to a decade to get to a hearing? (61,063 people on the court docket right now) Have your say to FSCO's Draft 2015 Statement of Priorities (below) - tell them that victims interests and well-being are being ignored and while you are at it - cc what you write to the office of the Ontario Auditor General at:  

http://www.auditor.on.ca/en/about_reach_en.htm

Ontario drivers overcharged $3 billion on insurance, study says

The average family should have paid $100 to $120 less for auto insurance in 2013 

Ontario drivers were overcharged $3 billion over a decade by highly profitable insurance firms while accident benefits were slashed

More/source:

http://www.kingstonregion.com/news-story/5551656-ontario-drivers-overcharged-3-billion-on-insurance-study-says/

 

Ontario drivers overpaid $840M for auto insurance a year, study says

Premiums could drop an estimated 7.9% without hurting the insurance industry

CBC News Posted: Apr 10, 2015 12:19 PM ET Last Updated: Apr 10, 2015 8:39 PM ET

 

Ontario consumers may have overpaid for auto insurance by $3 billion to $4 billion between 2001 and 2013.

In 2013 alone, they may have paid $840 million more than they should have to insure their vehicles, 

More/source: 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/ontario-drivers-overpaid-840m-for-auto-insurance-a-year-study-says-1.3028074
 

IBC Fact Check: Trial lawyers' 40% fees gut victims' benefits

40%: That's the share that some personal injury lawyers in Ontario take from accident victims in contingency fees. While many lawyers take less – a quarter or a third – insurers and drivers all agree: lawyers' fees are simply too high and have a significant impact on the cost of auto insurance.

In 2013, lawyers received an estimated $500 million from injury claimants out of their insurance settlements for bodily injury claims. These are real dollars that never make it to the claimant. IBC will continue to fight for increased transparency so that consumers can actually see where their insurance dollars go. 

More/source:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1516193/ibc-fact-check-trial-lawyers-40-fees-gut-victims-benefits

Ontario Drivers Pay Excessive Auto Insurance Rates while Company Profits Soar

Trial Lawyers Call for Immediate Rate Reductions with No Cuts in Coverage, Full Review

 

TORONTO, April 10, 2015 /CNW/ - A major study released today shows the need for immediate reductions in Ontario motorists' high auto insurance premiums, the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association says.

The study, conducted by York University Schulich School of Business Professors Fred Lazar and Eli Prisman, reveals in 2013 alone, consumers likely overpaid by $840 million.

"Auto insurance companies in Ontario have had a relatively free ride during the past 20 years. It is conceivable that premiums have been too high and as a result, consumers in Ontario have paid too much for auto insurance," the professors' report says.

"We estimate that consumers in Ontario may have overpaid for auto insurance by between $3 and $4 billion over the period 2001 to 2013."

The report says that the profit benchmark set by Ontario's insurance regulator at 11 per cent return on equity, should be no more than 5.5 per cent given today's low interest rate environment. Ontario's insurance regulator recently changed the profit cap, allowing insurers to earn even higher profits. 
A copy of the study is available here
 
The Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA), which commissioned the new study, calls on government to roll back the high rates that Ontario motorists pay, while halting any further reductions to auto insurance benefits. Insurers reduced coverage in 2010, while profits soared even higher.

"It is now up to the government to do the right thing and implement an immediate, orderly reduction in the profit cap and ensure that savings are passed along to consumers," said Steve Rastin, President of OTLA. "We must also ensure that coverage is not cut further for the thousands of injured car accident victims in Ontario," he added.

OTLA also recommends that Ontario's Auditor General conduct a fully independent review of auto insurance in Ontario.

"It's time for the Auditor General to step in to examine every aspect of auto insurance. For too long, we have not had all the facts and we simply cannot leave it to big insurance and their consulting actuaries," Rastin said.

"We need a thorough and truly transparent review that gets to the heart of costs in the insurance business. For example, we know that insurers spend millions on assessments just to deny legitimate claimants – about 50 cents for every dollar of treatment. Insurers should not be able to count those assessments as part of the overall claims cost. We need to put an end to that practice and also curb the abuse of accident victims who must endure endless intrusive assessments," added Maia Bent, President-Elect, OTLA.

More/source:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1515829/ontario-drivers-pay-excessive-auto-insurance-rates-while-company-profits-soar

The Truth Revealed About Insurance Companies’ Profits in Ontario

The York University Schulich School of Business conclude in a recent study that for the period 2001 to 2013 consumers in Ontario have likely overpaid for auto insurance by between $3 and $4 billion.

This money has not gone to accident victims nor to lower premiums for consumers – instead this money has gone straight to the insurance companies coffers. In 2010, deep cuts were made to auto insurance benefits payable to those injured in auto collisions. Those cuts resulted in $2 billion in costs savings for the auto insurers. A large majority of this windfall to the insurers was the reduction of medical and rehabilitation benefits payable to injured auto accident in victims. The standard coverage was reduced from $100,000 to $50,000. But more troubling was the introduction of the Minor Injury Guideline that in practice has seen medical and rehabilitation benefits slashed for most injured victims from $100,000 to $3,500.

More/source:
http://otlablog.com/ontario-insurance-profits/

$50,000 Non-Pecuniary Assessment for Aggravation of “Active Back and Neck Pain”

In today’s case (Dhaliwal v. Pillay) the Plaintiff was involved in two collisions, the first in 2010, the second in 2011.  The Defendants admitted fault for both crashes.  Prior to the collisions the plaintiff fell off a ladder and injured his neck and back and had ongoing symptoms from this injury.  The Court found the collisions aggravated these pre-existing injuries.  In assessing non-pecuniary damages at $50,000 Mr. Justice Truscott provided the following reasons:

More/source:
http://bc-injury-law.com/blog/50000-nonpecuniary-assessment-aggravation-active-neck-pain?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IcbcLaw+%28ICBC+Law%29

Health care needs to be a priority in provincial budget: Ontario's Doctors

"The government is creating a track record of cutting funding to health care services across the province as a way to tackle the $10.9 billion deficit it created, but this means a decrease in access to quality care for patients,"

More/source:
http://www.newswire.ca/en/story/1514235/health-care-needs-to-be-a-priority-in-provincial-budget-ontario-s-doctors

$100,000 Non-Pecuniary Assessment for Chronic Soft Tissue Injuries With Psychological Component

Reasons for judgement were released today by the BC Supreme Court, Vancouver Registry, assessing damages for a chronic pain condition stemming from collision related soft tissue injuries.

In today’s case (Karim v. Li) the Plaintiff was injured in a 2011 collision.  The defendant accepted fault for the crash.  The Plaintiff suffered various soft tissue injuries which, coupled with psychological consequences, resulted in an ongoing chronic pain condition.  In assessing non-pecuniary damages at $100,000 Mr. Justice Abrioux provided the following reasons:

More/source:
http://bc-injury-law.com/blog/100000-nonpecuniary-assessment-chronic-soft-tissue-injuries-psychological-component?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IcbcLaw+%28ICBC+Law%29

Subtle Brain Injury

There is an overwhelming ignorance in the medical community that there is even the possibility of permanent brain injury in patients who may have suffered a concussion. To this day, a significant proportion of the medical community believes that there can be no permanent brain injury without a loss of consciousness or without a blow to the head.

More/source:
http://subtlebraininjury.com/#sthash.KyljJAcG.dpuf

Focus: Colleges ready to disclose more information

The more than two dozen colleges that regulate health professions in Ontario are in the process of making more information about their practitioners available on their public registries within the next few months.

More/source:
http://www.lawtimesnews.com/201504064587/focus-on/focus-colleges-ready-to-disclose-more-information

Clinics bogged down by disability support applications

A deluge of disability appeal work rooted in flawed Ontario Disability Support Program application and medical review processes may eat up a big chunk of newly available funds for expanded legal aid services, according to legal clinics.

More/source:

http://www.lawtimesnews.com/201504064592/headline-news/tribunals

 

 

$75,000 Non-Pecuniary Assessment For Chronic Shoulder Injury

Adding to this site’s archives of pain and suffering awards for shoulder injuries, reasons for judgement were released today by the BC Supreme Court, Nanaimo Registry, assessing damages for a chronic shoulder injury caused by a collision.
In today’s case (Gaudrealt v. Gobeil) the Plaintiff was involved in a ‘forceful‘ rear-end collision in 2009.  He suffered various injuries the most serious of which was a chronic shoulder pain.  In assessing non-pecuniary damages at $75,000 Mr. Justice Thompson provided the following reasons:

More/source: http://bc-injury-law.com/blog/category/icbc-shoulder-injury-cases

Choices and Priorities

How do we as a society decide who is responsible to pay for access to justice initiatives and to what extent? Who sets those priorities and through what lens are those priorities ordered?

the only winners are those who continue to reap the benefit of hourly billings and that’s a declining number too as fewer and fewer are able to afford to pay those bills. Meanwhile, the social and personal costs continue to rise for society as a whole and especially, for those caught in the middle who can’t get the help they need.

More/source: http://www.slaw.ca/2015/04/01/choices-and-priorities/

 

Welfare recipients treated like guinea pigs: Goar

Ontario government’s ‘improvement’ to its disability program hurts those who are trying hardest

If everything had gone according to plan, the Ontario government would be rolling out a new Employment-Related Benefit for people with disabilities on April 1. 

Things did not go as planned, of course.


More/source: http://www.mississauga.com/opinion-story/5535047-welfare-recipients-treated-like-guinea-pigs-goar/

FAIR letter to CPSO regarding Transparency Project Phase 2

To: transparencyproject@cpso.on.ca

‘FAIR – supporting auto accident victims through advocacy and education’

FAIR Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform

579A Lakeshore Rd. East, PO Box 39522

Mississauga, ON, L5G 4S6

http://www.fairassociation.ca/

March 31, 2015                                                                                                                                 

Sent by email

Communications Dept, Transparency Project
College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario
80 College St., Toronto, ON, M5G 2E2

RE: Transparency Project Phase 2

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the CPSO’s proposed Transparency by-law changes. FAIR speaks for many of Ontario’s motor vehicle accident (MVA) victims who are especially vulnerable to medical abuse. Unlike ordinary citizens, Ontario’s accident victims are examined an alarming number of times by third party for-hire medical opinion vendors as well as their own treating physicians.

FAIR posts links to many Health Professions Appeal and Review Board (HPARB) decisions and Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) arbitration decisions about Ontario’s ‘independent’ medical opinion providers on our website. It is clear that MVA victims are often re-victimized by Ontario physicians whose bias favours the insurance company on whom they depend to make a very handsome pay check. The anonymity of the physicians within these decisions has caused yet another layer of harm by way of failing to protect the public and in the bargain harming the reputation of all good physicians.

Greater transparency would go a long way toward instilling confidence that CPSO really is providing oversight and enforcement of the regulations and not just going about the business of protecting an elite group of doctors whose volume of questionable work product saves Ontario’s insurers millions of dollars every year. This creates medical havoc for treating physicians who must deal with the fallout of the abuse to their patients and the roadblocks to treatment that these poor quality reports generate.

Regarding Cautions-in-person and SCERPs

CPSO has a long history of ignoring complaints. There is a concern that those who have abused Ontario’s MVA victims in the past and who have a history of prior complaints will be starting out fresh as if their record of complaints never existed and doesn't matter.

CPSO has often cloaked multiple offenders in secrecy and protected the physician’s interests over that of very vulnerable patients.  Some years ago a College investigator recorded that a well-known Insurer Medical Examination (IME) provider said that “in his view, there are three types of patients:

1.       Patients with nothing wrong with them who are “pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes”

2.       Patients with no problem who think they have a problem. These patients actually believe that there is something wrong with them, even though there is not.

3.       Patients with minor problem who have exaggerated this problem into something much bigger than it is.”

Ultimately the physician who had revealed his bias and potential to stand in the way of treatments for Ontario’s MVA victims was only sent for a private and confidential oral caution.  CPSO, at that time, was investigating multiple complaints about the bias and poor quality medical reports this vendor of medical opinions was churning out by the thousands. That same IME physician went on to provide flawed medical reports for many years for many thousands of auto accident victims in more than one Canadian province as well as Ontario’s WSIB claimants. Not once did CPSO do anything to protect the public and the physician assessor was ultimately celebrated by his peers for his contributions to the assessment industry.

This type of secrecy costs the treating physicians who are actually trying to assist their patients’ recovery and the honest medical assessors who are doing a good job. The cost to the victims of the medical abuse is evident in the almost 100,000 cases of unpaid MVA claims in our courts right now. Many of those people eventually end up on our public supports because their claims were derailed on the basis of some bogus and biased expert medical report. When Ontario’s wealthy insurers use the medical profession to bolster their denials, it costs us all.

There is a concern that going forward many of the third party physician assessors will fight the exposure of a more open policy and because of their greater wealth will be able to mount even more appeals from College censures. We hope that Ontario’s treating physicians whose patients are harmed will be taking a more active role in protecting their patients from medical predatory practices and that the College will now be listening to those members as well.

CPSO should reach back into their past records of the thousands of complaints made by auto accident victims. Those CPSO members that have had multiple complaints and secret cautions in the past decade should have them posted on the public register. It is not at all unusual for a MVA victim to have to wait 10 years or more to have their case heard in a court where the biased or unqualified report will be thrown out by a judge at a hearing. Those people wouldn't be there if not for these shoddy and biased reports and the College should make every effort to protect the public as well as undo the harm that they've caused with what has been an empty promise of regulation and oversight.

Regarding Criminal Charges

We agree with the proposed amendment. We also agree with the submission from the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario that, in addition to including convictions and charges under the Criminal Code and Health Insurance Act, the CPSO should include charges for offences under PHIPA on the public register going forward.

Regarding Licences in other jurisdictions and Discipline findings in other jurisdictions

We agree that this information should be posted on the CPSO public register. Unfortunately many of those physicians who work for Ontario’s insurers also export their bias and shoddy work outside of Ontario.

FAIR appreciates the open nature of this consultation process and that progress is and will continue to be made to protect the public.

Rhona DesRoches
Board Chair, Fair Association of Victims for Accident Insurance Reform

Ontario will introduce legislation to tackle privacy violations of health records

The Ontario government will soon table legislation to clamp down on privacy breaches like alleged violation of former mayor Rob Ford (open Rob Ford's policard)’s medical records, says Health Minister Eric Hoskins.

http://www.thestar.com/news/queenspark/2015/03/30/ontario-will-introduce-legislation-to-tackle-privacy-violations-of-health-records.html

Why time is important when hurt in a collision

When you have been injured in a motor vehicle crash it is very important to seek the assistance of a lawyer as soon as possible. There are two main reasons for doing so. Firstly and most importantly, there is legislation in Ontario that limits the time in which a person can bring a law suit. For the vast majority of cases, this time frame is two years.

http://oatleyvigmond.com/why-time-is-important-when-hurt-in-a-collision/#.VRreQY5qRqE

Canadian drivers should worry about privacy: report

Telematics worries: Report funded by Privacy Commissioner raise serious concerns about what cars know about drivers

Hamilton Spectator

By Craig Desson

 

MORE, source:

http://www.insidebrockville.com/news-story/5533618-canadian-drivers-should-worry-about-privacy-report/

 

Medical residents yield to doctors’ orders even when they’re wrong — and patients suffer, study suggests

Tom Blackwell | March 29, 2015 | Last Updated: Mar 29 8:07 PM ET

 

 MORE source: 

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/medical-residents-yield-to-doctors-orders-even-if-they-know-theyre-wrong-and-patients-suffer-study-suggests/?google_editors_picks=true

 

 

9 Things NOT to Say to Someone with a Brain Injury

http://www.brainline.org/content/2012/10/9-things-not-to-say-to-someone-with-a-brain-injury.html

Read the
Comments [183]

Is it the right time for a hidden disability symbol?

March 26, 2015 ~ Brain Injury Blog TORONTO

BY: RICHARD HASKELL

“You seem fine to me,” may be one of the worst things to say to a brain injury survivor – or anyone with a hidden disability – for that matter. This invisibility is one reason why Laura Brydges, an Ottawa woman living with the affects of brain injury, decided she need to do something to make hidden disabilities, visible. (You may have caught the recent Toronto Star article about her from a few weeks back.)

LAURA BRYDGES; PHOTO CREDIT: RG WHITE

Since that article, Brydges’ Hidden Disability Facebook page has hit 5.2K likes. She’s getting attention from organizations, individuals and media from all over North America and the U.K. But a really big moment was receiving a photo of someone from the U.S. using one of her cards.

“I have been overwhelmed. I can’t even describe the emotion,” Brydges said. Seeing that photo just touched me to the core, it made it real.”

Brydges stresses that making hidden disabilities visible is a safety issue.

She lists incidents where not understanding hidden disability can have deadly results. There was a child with autism in the U.S., she says, who was shot by the police. In Ottawa, there was a child in school who has handcuffed because of misunderstanding a hidden disability. In Winnipeg, there was a veteran with PTSD who was physically kicked out of a bar because he had a therapy dog. Brydges finds these stories and posts them on her Facebook page, collecting articles which prove  her point, time and time again.

Like many brain injury survivors, Brydges faces significant obstacles in her daily life, most of which are hidden. She has problems concentrating and has a low tolerance for noise or bright lights. She cannot drive or use public transit. Being in a large crowd for more than a short time can cause her to panic, sometimes to the point of tears.

Especially in the years right after her accident, Brydges says she couldn’t trust herself to be able to respond to an unexpected situation. For example, if someone on the street was having an emergency, she would have difficulty in processing information, to, for example, call 911. A frustrated first aid responder trying to enlist her help, repeating the message to her faster and louder to her would only make it worse.

Which is why, using nothing more than an interest in desktop publishing and sheer determination, Brydges designed a symbol consisting of a blue and white figure inside a circle with the words Hidden Disability on wallet-sized cards.

THE HIDDEN DISABILITY SYMBOL

Similar to the international symbol of accessibility for those with physical disabilities, the card is something Brydges feels could be used by those affected by hidden disabilities such as brain injury, autism or epilepsy. She calls it ‘a self-advocacy tool’ people with hidden disabilities can use to educate the public on the obstacles they face every day.

Brydges  began working on her hidden disability symbol in 2009. A year later, through Facebook, she found 592 adults to participate in an online survey about whether there was a need for a hidden disability symbol. The result:  80 per cent of the participants (the majority of whom had a hidden disability) agreed an international symbol was needed. A few years later, Brydges asked for feeback on how to develop the symbol, which orginally was a checked figure. She changed that design after learning some people had difficulty processing it.

HIDDEN DISABILITY OPTIONS PRESENTED IN THE SURVEY

Brydges believes there’s a need for a hidden disability symbol, and the time is right for it. “I think people with hidden disabilities are ready. They’re tired of either living very small lives and not explaining themselves or having to explain themselves over and over again when they go out,” Brydges said. “They’re tired of people treating them poorly to the point of verbal abuse and sometimes to the point of physical abuse when they park in an accessible parking spot. Even though they have a permit. I think it’s just time.”

The hidden disability symbol could be her design or someone else’s, Brdyges is all about the cause, and willing to let word about the symbol spread organically. She’s made the symbol available for download, with some stipulations, and is working on improving its print quality. The front of the cards can have the name of the condition on the bottom and the back can be customized to meet specific needs of each condition.

Brydges also believes organizations which serve people with hidden disabilities have to work together. “We’re stuck in this model of ‘I have this condition’ and ‘you have that condition’ instead of ‘when we’re out, these are the common problems with environments that aren’t highly conducive to our functioning,” she said.

Inspired? Brydges thinks Hidden Disability awareness would spread even further if she could get on The Ellen Degeneres Show. You can help make that happen by filling out this online form here.

 

 

Source: http://torontobraininjuryblog.com/2015/03/26/is-it-the-right-time-for-a-hidden-disability-symbol/

$85,000 Non-Pecuniary Assessment For Persistent Soft Tissue Injuries and Headaches

Reasons for judgement were released today by the BC Supreme Court, Nanaimo Registry, assessing damages for chronic soft tissue injuries and headaches following a collision.

In today’s case (Snidal v. Spires) the Plaintiff, who was 20 at the time, was involved in a 2010 collision in Parksville BC.  The Defendant admitted fault.  The Plaintiff suffered persistent soft tissue injuries and headaches which were partly disabling and not expected to improve.  In assessing non-pecuniary damages at $85,000 Mr. Justice Fitch provided the following reasons:

[3]             The accident caused persistent soft tissue injuries to the plaintiff’s neck, back and right shoulder.  She continues to experience neck, back and shoulder pain – particularly along the top of her right shoulder.  She has suffered from headaches since the accident, some of which are debilitating…

[131]     The plaintiff is a young woman.  More than four years from the date of the accident, she continues to experience fairly constant pain and occasionally debilitating headaches.  Although her symptoms have likely plateaued, they are now chronic in nature and will be a permanent and regular feature of her daily existence.

[132]     The plaintiff is no longer able to enjoy her favourite recreational activities, nor the active lifestyle she once enjoyed.

[133]     She has become more withdrawn.  Her self-esteem and sense of self-worth were seriously compromised in the aftermath of the accident.

[134]     She experienced a major depressive disorder attributable to the accident and will likely experience some residual, but manageable, symptoms of that disorder in the future.

[135]     In all the circumstances of this case, and applying the factors in Stapley v. Hejslet, I consider an award of $85,000 for non-pecuniary damages to be just and appropriate.

Source: http://bc-injury-law.com/blog/85000-nonpecuniary-assessment-persistent-soft-tissue-injuries-headaches?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+IcbcLaw+%28ICBC+Law%29

 

Tories claim WSIB operating slush fund

TORONTO - Ontario's Workplace Safety and Insurance Board has operated a "slush fund" for years without proper oversight to make sure it's getting value for money, the opposition Progressive Conservatives charged Tuesday.

The WSIB gave the Ontario Federation of Labour $12.3 million over 10 years to train workers and help prevent accidents, but a 2014 audit found the grant program's "link to prevention is weak" and it should be shut down, said PC labour critic Randy Hillier. 

"There has never been any oversight of this fund whatsoever, no applications, no reporting and zero value for money," Hillier told the legislature. "KPMG has told you that this program is worthless. It's just a slush fund for the OFL, and it's political pressure on your ministry that is keeping that slush fund going."

Documents obtained under freedom of information show some of the grant money was spent on car allowances, gym memberships and $44,000 for staff training sessions at the Bayview Wildwood resort in Muskoka, added Hillier.

"That's where the money is going," he said. "It's not going to help injured workers." .........

MORE source: 

http://www.insidehalton.com/news-story/5523163-tories-claim-wsib-operating-slush-fund/