When assessing permanent spinal impairment under the AMA Guides (4th ed) as required by the Accident Compensation Act 1985 (Vic), the Section 3.3 Direction must be applied: surgery to treat a spinal impairment does not modify the original impairment estimate, and the beneficial effects of surgery must be disregarded. Bayliss v TAC, which treated the Direction as an 'oversight', should not be followed. Where the Direction and an example in the Guides are inconsistent, the Direction prevails.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 17 later cases that cite this judgment.
2 of the 17 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.