MPI must ensure proper care for head injuries

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/01/2025 (293 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s important that things are done right.

On its webpage “Find an Accredited Repair Shop,” Manitoba Public Insurance spells out the need to find a repair shop “that is qualified to repair your specific vehicle” and properly estimate your vehicle’s damage.

“It’s important to use an MPI-accredited repair shop for your MPI claim. Accredited shops meet repair standards and have the right tooling, equipment and training to complete proper and safe repairs.

“This is increasingly important because more vehicles are being constructed with complex materials…”

Yes, modern cars are complex — and they get more complex with every passing model year.

Then again, they are probably never going to be as complex as the human brain.

That’s why it’s passing strange that MPI doesn’t have the same kind of requirement for qualified experts to deal with the effects of head trauma suffered by Manitobans in car accidents.

After hearing evidence in public hearings, the province’s Public Utilities Board recently took aim at the way MPI deals with people who have suffered head injuries, including those whose injuries may have left them less able to deal with the process.

The PUB recommended MPI should appoint an “independent external expert who is a doctor and research clinician practising at a recognized institute that focuses on brain injuries.”

The board pointed out that, while MPI’s process does include examinations by doctors and an independent appeal process, witnesses at the public hearings alleged the way MPI handles head injury claims is “slanted in a manner that makes it virtually impossible for them to receive the treatment and compensation to which they are entitled.”

In fiscal 2023-24, more than 230 Manitobans reported head injuries as either their primary or secondary injuries from accidents. The MPI process for treating head injuries sees the claimant going to their treating physician to establish the level of care they require.

But human brains are being constructed with more and more complex materials — actually, no, they’re not. A brain in a 2025 model human is pretty much the same as the one that came out with the 1960s model.

But brain function and brain injury are areas where the complexity of injuries is becoming better and better known as specialists dig ever deeper into an organ that is crucial to everything we do and even who we are.

Brain injuries can be discrete or obvious, and are life-changing in many ways. Their diagnosis and prognosis is challenging, involved and may evolve over time. They require access to specialized physicians, ongoing treatment and clear supports over long periods of time — not an arbitrary injury checklists with a “one-and-done” approach.

And when we suffer from such injuries, it also strikes at our ability to clearly stand up for our rights.

Michelle McDonald, the CEO of Brain Injury Canada, explains it well: “Insurance can be a pretty intimidating process, so with someone who has a new cognitive disability and is having a challenge navigating the health-care system, this can be an insurmountable barrier.”

Matt Wiebe, the provincial minister responsible for MPI, has said that the government is taking all of the PUB’s recommendations seriously. MPI says the issue is out of their hands, and depends on provincial legislation for guidance.

That sounds a lot like early passing the buck and waiting to see what the public reaction might be before taking any kind of action.

But the answer should be different.

MPI should be forced to meet comprehensive insurance standards, including employing established expertise in brain injuries and establishing a process that doesn’t unfairly treat people whose lives are often permanently changed.

It’s nothing more than the insurer already demands for our cars. And what’s more important? The correct repair of the front end of your SUV, or the correct treatment of your injured brain?