Did work cause the serious injury or death?

“An interesting case …PTSD linked to the death of Police Officer from cancer”.

A recent determination of the Personal Injury Commission (PIC) has found that a former NSW Police Officer’s psychological injury in 2019, caused his death from metastatic gastroesophageal functional carcinoma 3 years later (Culhana v State of New South Wales (NSW Police Force) & Ors [2024] NSWPIC 257).

It was uncontested that the deceased had been exposed to many traumatic events over the course of his 16-year policing career, causing PTSD. The workers’ compensation insurer accepted liability for this injury which was deemed to have occurred in November 2019.

When he was forced to leave work the deceased began to drink and smoke heavily to relieve his symptoms of anxiety and PTSD.

By the end of 2020, the deceased was having difficulty swallowing food and experiencing excessive heartburn. He underwent an endoscopy on 4 March 2021 which revealed that he was suffering with Barrett’s oesophagus. Due to worsening physical symptoms, a further endoscopy was performed on 10 June 2021. This revealed ulcerative oesophagitis and adenocarcinoma. He passed away as a result of adenocarcinoma on 27 November 2022.

It was successfully argued by the legal representative for the deceased’s partner, who brought proceedings as a dependent in a claim for death benefits, that the medical evidence supported the deceased’s work-related PTSD diagnosis and symptoms materially contributed to his increased stomach acid secretion, causing Barrett’s oesophagus and subsequently adenocarcinoma. A PIC Member found that the deceased’s death was because of his psychological injury sustained at work on 3 November 2019 and benefits were payable pursuant to Sections 25 & 26 of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (the 1987 Act).

This decision is currently on Appeal by the State of New South Wales.

The takeout from this case is that an injured worker need not prove that a consequential injury/condition (which may or may not lead to death) was caused by the primary injury but that that primary injury materially contributed to that consequential injury/condition. This decision is also one of the first involving the death of a worker from cancer which has been linked to an accepted PTSD injury.

Other successful cases we have argued involving a finding of consequential injury include:

  1. A police officer who had been exposed to trauma during his career ultimately took his own life. In this case, the Respondent disputed that the worker suffered any work-related psychological or physical injury which led to him committing suicide. It maintained that no compensation was payable as the mental health illness that led to his suicide had been precipitated by events related to his personal marital issues and not to any work-related injury. It was successfully argued, based on the evidence, that the marriage breakdown was attributable to the worker’s injuries, which had caused him difficulties for several years, and he would not have had such a severe reaction to the breakdown, resulting in his suicide, had it not been for his mental health difficulties. The Member in this case found that the worker suffered injury arising out of the course of his employment and benefits were payable to his dependants.
  2. A worker injured both of his knees in the course of his employment. He had an accepted workers compensation claim for these injuries. As a result, he was severely limited in his ability to exercise resulting in excessive weight gain. He was under the care of a Surgeon to consider gastric band surgery (which was also accepted to be related to the bilateral knee injury) when he died as a result of heart failure, chronic sleep apnoea and morbid obesity. It was successfully argued that the worker’s bilateral knee injuries resulted in his ultimate death and benefits were payable to his dependants.

It is important, as an injured worker, or a dependant of a deceased worker that you seek legal advice if that injury or death may have been caused or contributed to by employment.

Sharla Sutcliffe, Partner, Don Cameron & Associates

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