ACC in legal battle over $250,000 bill from flu jab

BY KIRAN CHUG

A woman who fell seriously ill after having a flu jab has been left with a medical bill of more than $250,000, which the Accident Compensation Corporation is refusing to pay.

Allison Cottle is embroiled in a legal battle with ACC as she prepares a High Court challenge to its decision not to pay, which a judge says is legally sound.

Mrs 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 March 2007.

A week after the vaccination, she was on holiday in the US, where she was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, which causes spinal paralysis, after suffering a suspected stroke.

Yesterday, she told The Dominion Post of the unfairness of the decision made by ACC and the impact it was having.

"It's very stressful. My husband is unwell and we're just working through the matter ourselves."

Mrs Cottle did not want to comment further while the matter was before the courts.

Her lawyer, John Miller, said appeal papers had been filed in the High Court against the earlier decision made by Judge Beattie.

"It's your nightmare scenario of getting ill in the US and having to have an emergency treatment."

Court documents show Mrs Cottle went on holiday to the US a week after receiving the flu jab known as Vaxigrip in March.

After suffering a suspected stroke, she was taken to hospital, where the seriousness of her condition saw her 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 has now successfully challenged that review through the courts, with Judge Beattie finding the law was on ACC's side as the legislation stated that it should not pay for acute treatment received overseas. In his judgment, Judge Beattie said Mrs Cottle could not have known the flu jab would cause her to develop Guillain-Barre syndrome when she left for her holiday in the US, or that it would have such a "deleterious effect" on her well-being.

Although, legally, ACC must not pay for treatment received overseas, Judge Beattie said the case exposed a possible gap in the legislation.

In his decision, he described Mrs Cottle's situation as a "classic example" of one where ACC should have discretionary power to pay for her treatment.

A spokesman for ACC said the judge had found that ACC had interpreted the law correctly when making its decision.

ACC said today that although it had every sympathy for Mrs Cottle's situation it did not have any legal discretion to make a different decision.

"To be quite clear, ACC has accepted Mrs Cottle's claim and has paid for a number of services for her," a spokesman said.

"However, our legislation is quite clear that we cannot pay for treatment received overseas. The court has upheld that position.

"We have every sympathy for her situation but, as noted by the judge, do not have any legal discretion to make a different decision."

Mr Miller said he had previously represented a client who developed a similar syndrome to Mrs Cottle after having a flu jab.

That client won her case for ACC to cover her treatment, as she had developed the illness in New Zealand.

He was unsure whether Mrs Cottle had travel insurance when she went on holiday.

- with NZPA

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