Riflessioni medico-legali su di un caso di Sclerosi Laterale Amiotrofica nell'Assicurazione per Invalidità Permanente da Malattia

The concept of illness as viewed by legal medicine purposes is often discussed in literature in an attempt to achieve a definition covering all the aspects in the Italian healthcare system. This matter is particularly significant as it relates to insurance against permanent disability that is offered by typical assurance companies where the understanding of pathology and symptoms has great relevance. In fact, the time of infury does not always correlate with the onset of symptoms, theretore causing a strong debate among the parties of the contract. The Authors report the history of a man who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and whose symptoms escalated a few months after the insurance policy was taken out, so the Company denied any benefits to him. Contractua terms are reviewed regarding the clause excluding the insurance benefits in the event of disability that was present before the insurance policy was signed. The pitfalls of disability insurance contracts are discussed as they relate to ilnesses for which there is insufticient scientitic evidence that is usetul for defining the exact the timing of the pathology.