RMA-Red

Amendment Statement of Principles

concerning

OSTEOARTHRITIS
(Balance of Probabilities)

(No. 74 of 2019)

The Repatriation Medical Authority determines the following Amendment Statement of Principles under subsections 196B(3) and (8) of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.

Dated 21 June 2019

The Common Seal of the
Repatriation Medical Authority
was affixed to this instrument
at the direction of:

Professor Nicholas Saunders AO

Chairperson

1 Name....................................................3

2 Commencement.............................................3

3 Authority..................................................3

4 Amendment................................................3

1 Name

This is the Amendment Statement of Principles concerning osteoarthritis (Balance of Probabilities) (No. 74 of 2019).

2 Commencement

This instrument commences on 22 July 2019.

3 Authority

This instrument is made under subsections 196B(3) and (8) of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986.

4 Amendment

The Statement of Principles concerning osteoarthritis (Balance of Probabilities) (No. 62 of 2017) (Federal Register of Legislation No. F2017L01442) is amended in the following manner:

Section

Amendment

7(2)

Replace the existing definition in subsection 7(2) with the following:

For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, osteoarthritis:

(a) means a degenerative joint disorder with:

(i) clinical manifestations of pain, impaired function and stiffness; and

(ii) osteophytes or loss of articular cartilage; and

(b) excludes acute articular cartilage tear and osteochondritis dissecans.

Note 1: Other commonly associated features are sclerosis of the underlying bone, inflammation of the synovium and, for osteoarthritis in the knee, degenerative tears of the menisci and, for osteoarthritis in the hip or shoulder, degenerative tears of the labrum.

Note 2: The osteophytes or loss of articular cartilage may be assessed by radiological, other imaging or arthroscopic investigations.