A woman plans to appeal to the High Court after an
Accident Compensation Corporation decision not to pay a
$250,000 medical bill she was left with when she fell seriously
ill after having a flu jab.
Allison Cottle, who has permanent New Zealand residency but
lives in Cleveland, in the United States, contracted a
life-threatening illness a month after having the flu jab in
New Zealand in March 2007.
A week after the vaccination known as Vaxigrip, she went to
the United States on holiday, and was later diagnosed with
Guillain-Barre syndrome, which causes spinal paralysis, after
suffering a suspected stroke, The Dominion Post reported
today.
Mrs Cottle said the decision by ACC was unfair and had caused
stress for both her and her husband.
Her lawyer, John Miller, said appeal papers had been filed in
the High Court against an earlier court decision in favour of
ACC.
Court documents showed Mrs Cottle suffered a suspected
stroke, and was taken to a US hospital, where she was
admitted to intensive care and not given medical clearance to
return home until July.
She was faced with a medical bill of US$180,482 (NZ$250,000),
which ACC said it would not pay.
When Mrs Cottle asked for the decision to be reviewed, ACC
was ordered to pay for the treatment.
However, it had successfully challenged that review through
the courts, with a judge finding the law was on ACC's side as
the legislation stated that it should not pay for acute
treatment received overseas.
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