R.S.I. sufferer awarded extra A.C.C. payment

Press, 17 December 1988, Page 7

R.S.I. sufferer awarded extra A.C.C. payment

PA Wellington An Auckland womaan suffering from tingling in her fingers and having her left hand becoming blue and puffy from repetitive strain injury has been awarded $7500 by the Accident Compensation Appeal Authority. The woman, aged 51, was a typist from the ages of 16 to 23, and again from the age of 41 until her problems began. A.C.C. initially paid her earnings-related compensation and, in June, 1987, awarded her $2OOO.

She applied for a review of the decision. The reviewing officer was placed in the awkward situation of having conflicting medical reports, Judge Arthur Middleton said in his written decision. While her doctor said she was suffering from repetitive strain ' injury, the corporation’s Takapuna medical officer put her condition down to ageing. . An orthopedic surgeon who examined the woman said the complaint did not

arise from an accident. “I feel her tissues were trying to tell her that she was requiring too much of them and they were protesting in the only way they knew how.” The reviewing officer upheld the $2OOO grant. When the woman appealed against the review she was examined by another doctor. The symptoms were compatible with repetitive strain injury, the unusual feature being their persistence after she stopped working, the doctor said.