The Meehan v. Holt decision was released on May 28, 2010 from the Court of the Queen’s Bench of Alberta in Calgary.

In the afternoon of September 8, 1998 chiropractor Debra Hogan was a front seat passenger, eating pizza, in a 1990 Mercury Topaz driven by Ronald Meehan. Suddenly Mr. Meehan hit the brakes and the car skidded, crashing into another vehicle that had failed to yield at a stop sign. Ms. Hogan’s head went forward then back hitting the headrest and then forward again.  There was minimal damage done to the two vehicles.

Immediately after the accident, Hogan said that she just felt “shocky” and within five minutes she had a headache and neck pain. In the next few days her mid-back pain got worse and her lower back was increasingly stiff.  She also suffered from spasms through the shoulder and neck and her hands were tingling. Later, an MRI showed she had displaced discs on both the sides in the Tempormandibular Joint (“TMJ”) area and required surgery on her right jaw. This surgery on the 26th of May, 1999 was not successful. She had great difficulty over the years since the accident with respect to eating solid food and regularly attended adjustment sessions for her back and muscle stiffness. Ms. Hogan testified that prior to the accident she never had any problems with her jaw.

Ms. Hogan hired Calgary personal injury lawyers to pursue damages she incurred as a result of the accident.

At the trial, the court heard testimony from many doctors, including orthopaedic surgeons, dentists, chiropractors, and physiotherapists.  While the medical experts did not completely agree on the severity of Ms. Hogan’s TMJ and muscle strain, the court ultimately found that Ms. Hogan suffered a musculoligamentous strain injury to the neck and back as well as resultant headaches, hand numbness and a shoulder injury and also suffered an injury to her TMJ.

In assessing the damages to award Ms. Hogan, the court opined that she had a sizeable past loss of income claim and loss of capacity because she could no longer treat as many patients since her accident. . She was also awarded the cost of her future care with regards to her ongoing dental treatments for the TMJ.

The Court awarded Ms. Hogan the following damages.

• General damages: $90,000
• Past Loss of income: $40,000
• Loss of earning capacity: $50,000
• Loss of housekeeping capacity
  • i) Past (special damages): $5,000
  • ii) Future: $1,000
• Cost of care
  • Past: $39,570.14
  • Future: $27,265

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