Injured man faces 63rd ACC test

How many medical reports is enough?Dunedin resident Mel Hollis, a long-term recipient of ACC weekly earnings-related compensation, says he is being asked to undergo his 63rd medical report in 18 years of ACC support.

Mr Hollis worked full-time for more than 30 years until his lungs and general health were badly damaged by a neurotoxic condition arising from work-related solvent exposure.

These days, he is also the Otago representative of Sniftaas (Inc) NZ, a national support group for the chemically injured.

His own doctor and various specialists had long acknowledged his incurable condition, and he asked what purpose was served in undergoing repeated and costly reassessments which were "totally unnecessary", he said.

He was now being asked to see a Dunedin specialist he had already seen five times over the past 15 years and his condition was being worsened by the stress of repeated assessments, he said.

Denise Powell, the president of Acclaim Otago, an ACC claimant group, said ACC had to make appropriate checks, but nothing was to be gained by repeatedly testing people like Mr Hollis, who were known to have serious injuries.

Asked to comment about repeated requests for medical assessments, ACC officials said any person receiving weekly compensation would be regularly assessed to see if he or she had recovered sufficiently to return to work.

Medical assessments were the only way to determine if someone was fit for work, and if they were not, compensation payments would continue, officials said.