Whiplash
and the compensation culture
“Whiplash injuries can have debilitating
consequences for those who suffer
them. However, some of the increase in
whiplash claims will have been due to
fraud or exaggeration.”
Transport Select Committee, the Chair
Louise Ellman MP
What is whiplash?
Whiplash is a soft tissue injury that
occurs because the body is suddenly
and sharply jerked in a particular
direction. The muscles and ligaments
around the spine are stretched, torn and
bleed and this results in neck pain and
spasms.
Pain from a whiplash injury tends to arise
some six to 12 hours after the event
and can be anything from a moderate
irritation to severely debilitating. This
pain can be accompanied by headache,
balance problems, vertigo, dizziness, eye
problems, tinnitus, poor concentration,
sensitivity to light and fatigue.
Why are we so concerned about
claims for whiplash?
Whiplash trauma can result in injuries
that are difficult to diagnose. A doctor
may examine a patient’s neck for signs
of spasm or tenderness, but tests and
scans generally aren’t used. Doctors will
generally diagnose whiplash from the
patient’s description of the symptoms
that they are suffering.
80
An x-ray may be taken if there is some
concern that the patient’s back is broken,
but x-rays cannot typically reveal minor
injuries. In some cases an MRI scan
may be used to detect more severe
trauma, but whiplash is a complex injury
and this complexity is compounded
by the paradox that one patient may
have suffered a major injury but may
experience only minor symptoms, where
another patient endured only minor
trauma but is subject to very severe,
disabling symptoms.
So then, in a claim for personal injury, a
lot of emphasis is placed on the patient’s
account of the pain they are suffering and
the fairness of any amount claimed by that
patient is reliant on that person telling the
truth. Essentially, once an allegation of
whiplash has been made, it is very difficult
for a defendant to show that a claimant
has exaggerated his symptoms. A GP
may be convinced that a patient is lying
about the seriousness of his symptoms
and may find absolutely nothing wrong
with him/her (apart from a severe case
of bad acting brought on by googling
the symptoms of whiplash) – but in their
role as the patient’s advocate they are
obligated to write in their medical notes
that the patient came in complaining of
whiplash. GPs are constantly concerned
that they are putting themselves at risk of
a com