ADMINISTRATIVE LAW — review of medical assessment by Review Panel — judicial review of Review Panel decision — where medical assessment certificate revoked and replaced by Review Panel — whether Review Panel’s decision affected by reviewable error due to making of findings beyond scope of medical dispute — whether Review Panel failed to afford procedural fairness
Quick Take
1Under s 7.26(6) of the MAI Act, the ambit of the medical dispute before a Review Panel is a question of fact determined not solely by the injury description in the original application but by the totality of the parties' claims, submissions, medical evidence and the course of the assessment process; the dispute may evolve over time.
2A Review Panel conducting a review under s 7.26 is not confined to the particular ground of alleged incorrectness; it undertakes a new assessment of all matters with which the medical assessment is concerned, and this may extend to considering new medical evidence (such as a later ultrasound revealing a tendon tear) that emerged during the review process.
3Procedural fairness does not require a Review Panel to put a party on notice of the precise finding it proposes to make; issuing a direction inviting submissions on the key factual issue (here, causation of the tear) and receiving substantive responsive submissions was sufficient to satisfy the obligation.
