Lawyers for ICBC Gain access to Raw Test Data Despite the Directives of the College of Psychologists of BC
After suffering a brain injury in a motor vehicle accident, will the Court Order the psychologist to copy records to ICBC? As a Personal Injury Lawyer in British Columbia since 1995 I have had to hire registered psychologist with expertise in clinical Neuropsychology for clients suffering brain injury and other disorders. Lawyers representing ICBC will often ask for the experts raw test data and other file notes. Psychologists we will often refuse to produce these records to ICBC setting out that, in accordance with the College of Psychologists of BC, they are unable to provide the raw test data to persons other than another registered psychologist.
In this Psychologist records personal injury car accident case(Smith v. Rautenberg, 2013 BCSC 1347) the Court Ordered that the Neuropsychologist disclose raw test data to the ICBC lawyer following a series of Neuropsychological assessments. The Court found that there is nothing in the Code of Conduct to substantiate the apparent position of the College Psychologists of BC that test material cannot be released except to another psychologist or psychological service provider in another jurisdiction.
In ordering the disclosure Master McDiarmid pointed out,
[34] In making my decision, I agree with what was written by Southin J.A., namely that when an expert in one field in possession of documents says that someone from a different discipline is not competent to understand his work, that the court is to be slow to overrule his judgment. That is a very different thing from saying that the documentation could not be produced to counsel for the party seeking production. If that party choses to have the documents interpreted by someone not competent to understand them, lack of competence will be readily available to a trial judge and will work against the party who conducts litigation in that way.
Watch our short video about the signs and symptoms of brain injury and learn more about reasons for Neuropsychological assessment.
Posted by Personal Injury Lawyer Mr. Renn A. Holness, B.A. LL.B.
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