ACC corruption media articles

I wrote several blog posts about my experiences with ACC, which I have summarised here.

Some of the articles ACC corruption (and some justice). I quoted some key relevant parts and put a link for readers to go to the full articles.

I am legally eligible for reassessment and will do this one last assessment, expected in 2023, to take the process as far as I can go, then I am done with ACC. I was going to try write some more blog posts about my experiences but I am exhausted by the whole thing. It really does wear people down.

I may add to this blog post when I see more relevant articles. The article where the judge says the appealant is a witness of truth (for a non-covered physical injury with no specific diagnosis) is interesting to me, as I was dismissed, as were doctors who supported me for my appeal for lump sum compensation for covered mental injury of PTSD. ACC spent more on psychiatrists and lawyers than to pay out the piddly compensation.

MeDia article Quoted Extracts

Judge McGuire: "I have concluded that the appealant is essentially a witness of truth and whether or not her descriptions of the pain she feels may be overstated, I am satisfied they are real and that they derive from the accident sustained when lifting weights."
Judge McGuire said he hoped the result would allow for a more precise diagnosis of Downe's injury and lead to more successful therapeutic interventions.
Tears of joy as ACC ordered to cover woman's weightlifting injury after 19 years of pain. NZ Herald, 2023.
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Mental health case wins appeal
A woman's appeal against ACC's decision to decline funding for schizophrenia treatment after she was raped has been upheld.
In the Wellington District Court Judge CJ McGuire concluded the rape had meaningfully contributed to her diagnosed schizophrenia.
The woman's counsel Beatrix Woodhouse of John Miller Law referred to the previous case of W v Accident Compensation Corporation in which the court found there to be no requirement for the event in question to be the substantial course of a condition - that there may be multiple causes - and this should not be a barrier to funding.
John Miller, principal for John Miller Law, said the outcome was a "significant" decision...He was hopeful the decision reflected a changing attitude towards mental health cases.
Successful appeal after ACC dismissed claim linking rape and schizophrenia, Stuff, 2019

Another mental health case wins appeal
A judge has ruled in favour of an ACC claimant in a case expected to have 'enormous' ramifications for the way mental health patients are treated. In the decision, Judge Grant Powell in the Wellington District Court agreed with the psychiatrist who said a man's schizophrenia had been caused by trauma from sexual abuse in childhood. 
After another appeal, psychiatrist David Codyre provided a report that completely disagreed with the previous psychiatrists.
'With due respect to my colleagues who undertook the prior psychiatric reports...their opinion that sexual abuse is not causally related to schizophrenia is not evidence based."
New Zealand Association of Psychotherapists public issues spokesperson Kyle MacDonald said the judgement was encouraging and could mean entitlements for many other people.
"The reality is there are a lot of people who would be in the mental health system who would have a diagnosis of a psychotic disorder who may now be entitled to access to some treatment under ACC."
ACC to rethink abuse link, Stuff, 2013

ACC pays millions to specialists rather than to claimants
ACC has paid almost $42 million to 254 Auckland specialists since 2015, to assess 4466 claimants, of whom 811 then had their entitlements suspended. The data, released to the Herald under the Official Information Act, shows exponential growth in the use of clinical pyschiatrists and neuropsychologists to assess people who already had an injury claim accepted.
Lawyer John Miller, of John Miller Law, whose team is dedicated to challenging ACC decisions: "It's always a worrying trend where ACC will by trying to get people off instead of using the funds to rehabilitate people. Instead they spend millions on reports like these with an aim I think to get people off and put them onto the public health system. Words fail me.'
Massey University health socialogist Dr Andrew Dickson said the asessors reports were "basically unassailable."
"You can't really contest the unless you get your own and they're very expensive and then when you do get your own, ACC are often just going to ignore you anyway...and even when you can point to an egregious error, they still don't remove that report from the file..."
ACC paid mental health specialists $41.9m to assess claimants, then hundreds lost cover, The New Zealand Herald, 2020

Win against ACC (taking years)
A long running battle resulted in a legal victory for a victim of sexual abuse and the "psychological consequences that ensued."
ACC submitted the man had not proven, on the balance of probabilities, he had the necessary diagnosis of a mental injury, and, in particular, PTSD.
However, the court found otherwise. The court also found that mental injury was attributable to sexual abuse he experienced in childhood.
Sex abuse survivor wins long-running battle against ACC, Stuff, 2022

ACC are legal experts & use intimidation 
I have a brain injury, so how am I supposed to compete against what feels like the might of a multi-billion dollar corporate? It's not a level playing field. It's like I'm a schoolboy playing rugby against an All Black. There's very little chance of winning and no justice at all. (claimant)
ACC legal bills skyrocket, creating and uneven playing field for claimants, Stuff, 2017
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High cost of appeal with little potential compensation
​"The cost of appealing decisions prevented many claimants from doing so, even though they might have a strong case."
ACC has increased the amount it spends on lawyers to fight its corner in recent years.
There is a consistent thread in this area of the law that when you take on ACC, even when you win, you lose. (advocate)
Court forcing ACC to pay legal fees above $3000 cap brings justice - advocate, Stuff, 2018
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Corruption of ACC
ACC lawyers, advocates and claimant groups know those doctors as 'hatchet men and women', Mr Miller {lawyer againts ACC} said.
“They are not independent, as a substantial part of their income comes from ACC,” he said.
 ACC pays millons to send its hatchets, Stuff, 2012