A trial judge is entitled to reject unanimous psychiatric opinions diagnosing PTSD and major depressive disorder where the opinions are founded on histories that are incomplete and inaccurate in material respects, particularly where the claimant failed to raise relevant psychological symptoms with treating general practitioners for extended periods. The court is not bound to reconstruct a diagnosis according to its own lay assessment of what the opinion would have been if all relevant facts had been known. In serious injury applications involving pre-existing conditions, the applicant must prove the nature and extent of the injury caused by the relevant accident by comparing pre-accident and post-accident states.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 7 later cases that cite this judgment.
1 of the 7 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.