Assessment of medical disability after whiplash injury. The first 112 cases assessed by the expert group appointed by the Norwegian Medical Association
Opjordsmoen, S.; Bøyesen, O.; Nestvold, K.; Rø, M.; Unsgård, G.; Vigen, T.
Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening Tidsskrift for Praktisk Medicin Ny Raekke 117(1): 17-21
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0029-2001 PMID: 9064803 Document Number: 477191
The disability causes by common whiplash injuries has been a controversial issue in Norway as in other western countries. This had led to deviations in the assessment of medical disability. In order to standardize the assessment of disability to fit the rules for compensation from insurance companies, the Norwegian Medical Association appointed an Arbitration Board, consisting of experts from different specialities, to advise in such cases. By the end of 1995, a total of 112 cases had been assessed. The average degree of disability lay 20% higher among the specialists who scored the disability highest than among those who scored it lowest. The average value for the Board as a whole lay between the two, but somewhat closer to the lower than the higher values. In the declarations giving the highest score for disability, organic brain damage was diagnosed in about 50% of the cases, but in the Board's opinion this injury could be verified in only 10%.