Dr. Mills and Dr. Seon differed in their respective Addendum Reports with respect to the Brief Battery for Health Improvement 2 (BBHI-2) scores, the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM) scores, the Applicant’s language difficulties and the overall treatment of the Applicant. Dr. Mills testified he never uses these tests, which test for attributes such as feigning symptoms, malingering and lying. He said that results from such tests are unreliable. They do not take into account the patient’s different cultural background, the suspicion toward a female assessor, and attitudes towards women (all aspects of cultural differences) which could have an important effect on the outcome of those kinds of testing.
As a clinical psychologist he was more interested in the whole picture, which included the fact that the Applicant had come seeking treatment and had endorsed a number of features indicative of serious depression. In his opinion, the Applicant was not feigning his symptoms. He noted that two flags ignored by Dr. Seon were the Applicant’s disclosure at Dr. Seon’s interview that he was taking medication for his pain and had been prescribed anti-depressant medication by his family doctor. These should have alerted her that the Applicant was experiencing real issues of pain and depression, and not feigning symptoms.
[]
In making my overall findings with respect to the Medical Benefits and Costs of Examinations, I must note several things stand out.
The first is the marked contrast between the opinion reports of the Applicant and Insurer. This seems endemic to the Adjudication process under the SABS.
That said, I am giving more weight to the Applicant’s testimony and to his self-reported symptoms to the various assessors and his testimony at the Hearing, over the opinions of Drs. Seon and Chiew that the Applicant was likely feigning his symptoms. This is not in any way to question the skills or expertise of these witnesses; I am not qualified to do that. But I am qualified to weigh and prefer particular evidence over other evidence.
[]
On the psychological side, I prefer the evidence of Dr. Mills given my conclusion that the Applicant was neither malingering nor feigning or exaggerating his symptoms. I accept that Dr. Malik, working under the supervision of Dr. Mills, was providing assistance to the Applicant towards understanding the tests when he required it because of language difficulties. The tests administered through Dr. Malik and interpreted by Dr. Mills supported the Applicant’s symptoms of emotional distress and pain which he attributed to the accident.
I support Dr. Mills’ conclusion that the serious and recalcitrant nature of the Applicant’s ongoing physical pain and psychological impairment is a direct result of the MVA. I also endorse Dr. Mills’ finding that the MVA materially contributed to the Applicant’s impairment and poses a significant barrier to his function, an observation I was able to make from the Applicant’s demeanour throughout the Hearing when he attended. His impairments should not be characterized as falling within the MIG.