Is sexual health loss captured in your client's claim?
A practical resource for personal injury and medical negligence practitioners. Use this page to identify whether an independent sexual health assessment could expand the damages available to your client.
Book a Complimentary ConsultationWhy this matters in your cases
Injuries, surgical complications, medical negligence, and psychological trauma all carry sexual health consequences that are rarely assessed and almost never claimed. When they are, the outcome changes significantly for the client.
In Australia and globally, sexual health loss has been quantified and awarded in personal injury, medical negligence, and WorkCover matters covering everything from traumatic birth to spinal cord injury to post-surgical complications. The gap is not in the law. It is in the assessment.
The checklist below is designed to help you identify which of your current files may have an unassessed sexual health dimension before you settle.
Sexual health claims checklist
Run through this list for any file involving physical injury, surgery, psychological trauma, or chronic illness. Each item represents a potential head of loss.
- Sexual intercourse affected Vaginismus, dyspareunia, penetration avoidance, altered sensation
- Libido or sexual interest changed Common after pelvic floor damage, hormonal disruption, or chronic pain
- Bladder or bowel leakage affecting intimacy Leakage shame is a documented barrier to sexual engagement
- Body image significantly altered Scarring, prolapse, or altered anatomy directly affects sexual self-concept
- Intimate relationship with partner changed Withdrawal, role reversal, loss of physical affection, reduced frequency
- Avoidance of sexual situations or touch May indicate trauma response, anticipatory pain, or dissociation
- Surgery in or near pelvic or urogenital region Prostatectomy, hysterectomy, colostomy, hernia repair, circumcision, filler procedures
- Erectile function, lubrication, or orgasm affected Nerve-sparing failures and vascular damage are common and claimable
- Pre-operative counselling on sexual risk absent or inadequate Absence of informed consent on sexual risk is a recognised ground of negligence
- Penile rehabilitation recommended or required Devices, injections, implants: quantifiable future treatment costs
- Stoma, scarring, or altered anatomy affecting body image Body image therapy is a recognised and claimable treatment cost
- Cosmetic or reconstructive outcome affected sexual confidence Applies to filler complications, augmentation outcomes, and gender-affirming surgery
- Genital sensation or arousal affected Paraplegia, tetraplegia, and disc injuries alter nerve pathways to genitalia
- Erectile dysfunction or ejaculatory changes reported Common in lumbar and sacral injuries; claimable with neurological evidence
- Orgasm affected or lost Neurological disruption to orgasmic response is documented and claimable
- Positioning or spasticity limits sexual activity Practical sexual function loss, often overlooked in standard PI assessments
- Fatigue or pain affecting sexual frequency or desire Chronic pain and fatigue are recognised sexual suppressors with treatment pathways
- Client expressed loss of identity as a sexual being Sexual self-esteem loss: assessable, claimable, and treatable
- Physical injury limits ability to engage in sexual activity Mobility restrictions, pain on movement, positioning limitations
- Psychological impact affected sexual desire or function PTSD, acute stress, and anxiety are strongly linked to sexual dysfunction
- Medications prescribed that affect sexual function Antidepressants, opioids, antihypertensives: document and claim as consequential loss
- Relationship affected or partnership ended since injury Relationship breakdown linked to injury is a claimable consequential loss
- Shame, embarrassment, or loss of confidence expressed Sexual self-esteem loss is assessable, documentable, and claimable
- Emotional or sexual inhibition changed post-injury Frontal lobe involvement can increase or decrease sexual expression significantly
- Intimacy disrupted by personality or mood changes Partners withdraw, relationships deteriorate, isolation increases
- Capacity for consensual sexual decision-making affected Relevant to both damages calculation and care plan design
- Partner reports changes in their own wellbeing Partner impact on sexual and emotional health is a claimable head of damages
- Chemotherapy, radiation, or hormone therapy affected sexual function Erectile dysfunction, vaginal atrophy, loss of libido: common, documented, and claimable
- Treatment caused early menopause or testosterone suppression Hormonal sexual health loss has significant long-term treatment cost implications
- No sexual health counselling received post-treatment Absence of referral may indicate a gap in the standard of care provided
- Ongoing psychosexual distress related to diagnosis or treatment Cancer-related sexual distress is a recognised, treatable, and claimable condition
What a sexual health assessment covers
If one or more items on the checklist apply to your client, an independent sexological assessment can provide the evidence base needed to quantify and claim that loss.
Sexual function
Arousal, desire, lubrication, erection, orgasm, ejaculation, sensation, pain: all assessed using validated clinical instruments.
Body image and identity
How the injury or surgery has changed the client's sense of themselves as a sexual being, including shame, avoidance, and confidence loss.
Relationship and partner impact
Changes to intimacy, frequency, emotional connection, and the impact on the partner's own wellbeing and sexual life.
Treatment pathways and costs
Evidence-based recommendations for therapy, medical devices, pharmaceutical intervention, and rehabilitation, with cost projections for the life of the claim.
Causation and prognosis
Clear clinical opinion on the link between the injury or event and the sexual health impact, with a prognosis and likely treatment trajectory.
Court-ready report
15 to 20 pages, peer-reviewed references, validated assessment tools, and opinions expressed to the standard required for expert evidence.
About Dr Armin Ariana
I am a medical doctor, clinical psychologist, and accredited clinical sexologist with postgraduate qualifications across medicine, psychology, and sexology. I hold an Associate Professorship in Medical Education and sit on the Executive Committee of the World Association for Sexual Health.
I provide independent medico-legal opinions on the sexual health impacts of injury, surgery, trauma, and professional misconduct for plaintiff-side personal injury and medical negligence practitioners across Australia. Assessments are conducted remotely. Reports are delivered to the expert witness standard required for litigation.