Facts
X, born in 1945, obtained a commercial diploma in 1973 and was employed as an insurance inspector from 1977 to 1982. Since November 1983, he has been receiving a full disability pension due to a severe psychoneurosis. During the period from June 1 to November 28, 1987, he worked as a taxi driver and was compulsorily insured against accidents with the SUVA. On July 1, 1987, he suffered an accident while reversing, in which he sustained a cervical spine injury.
The SUVA rejected any claim for insurance benefits, as there was no causal link between the accident and the claimed neck complaints. X filed a complaint with the Administrative Court of the Canton of Bern, which also dismissed the complaint.
Considerations
The Federal Insurance Court states that for the affirmation of the natural causal link between an accident event and a health impairment, it is not necessary that the accident is the sole or immediate cause. It is sufficient that the damaging event, together with other conditions, has impaired the physical or mental integrity of the insured person.
In the case of whiplash injuries to the cervical spine, the natural causal link is generally to be assumed if a typical symptom pattern with a accumulation of complaints such as headaches, dizziness, concentration disorders, etc. is present. However, in the present case, no such causal link could be established based on the file documents.
The lower…