If people have been declined cover for a surgical mesh-related injury as far back as the first of July 2005, from today
they can get their claim re-looked at. The claim would be reviewed in line with a new ‘decision guidance’ which
recognises up-to-date medical understanding of mesh injuries.
Mesh Down Under (MDU) also urges all New Zealanders who have been harmed by a surgical mesh injury and have not
previously put in a treatment injury claim to ACC, to do so now.
Many men and women could be suffering from symptoms relating to a surgical mesh injury but may not have associated these
symptoms with a mesh complication. The new guidance developed by ACC will now make it easier for health professionals to
detect early on if patients could be suffering from mesh-related harm. The guidance recently published by ACC was
specifically for pelvic mesh injuries and ACC is currently finalising
their hernia mesh injury guidance.
ACC will reassess all declined surgical mesh claims regardless of the type of mesh a patient has implanted.
In 2018, as part of the Shaping our Future Program, ACC revamped the claim management process with the intention of less
complex claims being largely "self-managed" by claimants through an online portal group case management system. However,
ACC has confirmed that during this reassessment process those mesh injured claimants will be matched with an individual
case owner. ACC has confirmed to MDU that claimants can choose to either stay with a dedicated individual case owner or
move to the team management approach once the process has been completed.
Mesh Down Under is hopeful that more claims will be accepted for cover so that mesh injured patients are able to access
the help they so desperately need. Co-leader Patricia Sullivan says “We are thankful to ACC for undertaking this
reassessment which was part of their “look back” commitment to the Ministry of Health’s ‘restoring the harm’ from the
Restorative Listening process. Mesh injured patients have suffered enough for far too long. We will wait to see how many
claim decisions are overturned or new claims accepted before we can say that this process has been a success”.
ACC advises anyone who wants more information or is interested in having their claim reassessed to:Contact the dedicated reassessment team on 0800 735 566, or email surgical-mesh@acc.co.nzVisit their GP – ACC can reimburse the cost of this appointmentDiscuss this with their medical specialist (if they are receiving specialist care) at an upcoming appointmentVisit acc.co.nz/surgical-mesh to find out more.