Andrews and Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission (Compensation)

This matter concerned an appeal by Mr. Andrews against a decision of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission. The central dispute revolved around whether a specific incident in 1968, involving carrying meat and slipping, had caused Mr. Andrews' back condition in more than a temporary way. The decision was made by N A Manetta SM.

The court was required to determine the critical factual question of whether Mr. Andrews' service in 1968 affected his back in a manner that was more than temporary. If the effects were found to be temporary only, the claim would necessarily fail.

The Senior Member considered various medical reports and oral evidence. The court accepted Dr. Eriksen's evidence that the 1968 incident could not have caused the narrowing of the L5-S1 disc space noted in an X-ray report from that year, and that Dr. Billett viewed the observed changes as a pre-existing degenerative state. While Dr. Guirguis concluded the discogenic injury occurred as a direct result of the initial incident, the Senior Member found it unclear how this conclusion was reached, particularly given that the 1968 X-ray report did not indicate a discogenic injury. Ultimately, the Senior Member concluded that Mr. Andrews' service in 1968 affected his back in a temporary way only.

The Senior Member affirmed the decision under review.