Poor injury records fuel brain injury insurance disputes, group says

The Finnish Brain Injury Association says incomplete records from the first medical examinations after accidents help insurance companies in disputes over brain injury compensation, Yle reports. Yle’s MOT programme examined nearly 100 such disputes.

Association director Päivi Hakkarainen said key details, including the duration of unconsciousness and memory loss, are sometimes not recorded. She said routine head scans in the early stages could help in some cases, although not all brain injuries are immediately visible.

Hakkarainen also criticised the influence of insurance doctors, saying the same doctors often assess claims. MOT reported that neurologist Jari Honkaniemi had often attributed people’s inability to work to causes other than the accidents at the centre of disputes.

Honkaniemi declined an interview with MOT. In an email, he said he had recognised brain injuries in several of his assessments and that those cases did not proceed to court, with patients receiving the compensation due to them. He did not comment on how much he had been paid by insurance companies during his career.

The association wants the law changed so injured people do not carry such a heavy burden of proving their claims. Hakkarainen said greater weight should be given to the assessment of the doctor treating the patient, who knows them best, rather than to insurance doctors’ views on the cause and consequences of an injury.

The association also argues that doctors working for insurance companies should not receive separate fees for acting as experts. It says Finland should reconsider its three-tier classification of brain injuries as mild, moderate or severe. Hakkarainen noted that people diagnosed with mild injuries can still have significant symptoms.