The claimant appealed the Tribunal’s decision that he did not suffer a catastrophic impairment, as he did not meet the Extended Glasgow Outcome Scale (“GOS-E”). In particular, the adjudicator preferred the assessments of the insurer which took place almost 24 months after the accident, rather than the assessments of the claimant which took place around 16 months after the accident. The GOS-E test refers to level of functioning “6 months or more”. However, the adjudicator was not required to accept the assessment that was completed earliest in time. The adjudicator’s decision to prefer the insurer’s assessments was open to her on the evidence, and she explained why she did not accept the claimant’s assessments. The Tribunal therefore made no error with regard to the temporal aspect of the assessments. Second, the adjudicator did not restrict her consideration to impairments exclusively or solely attributable to traumatic brain injury, and she did contemplate that physical and psychological impairments caused by or related to the traumatic brain injury were to be considered in the GOS-E. In applying the test, the adjudicator found that many of the impairments relied upon by the claimant reflected an unwillingness to perform acts, rather than an inability to perform them. Those were properly excluded from consideration. Finding no legal error, the Court dismissed the appeal.
