Question juridique clé
Whether a specific HWS injury without objectively verifiable functional loss can still be invalidating under disability insurance law
Solution extraite
Such injuries are not excluded from disability assessment; however, their disabling effect must be examined under the criteria developed for pathogenetically unexplained syndromes and cannot be inferred solely from the absence of organic findings.
Motifs extraits
The court held that equality requires analogous application of the jurisprudence on somatoform pain disorders to chronic whiplash-type syndromes without organic basis. Medical evidence must be assessed for whether the claimant can reasonably be expected to overcome the condition and use residual capacity on the balanced labour market.