Former addict wants full payout

In a day of complex and convoluted argument, Auckland man Jeffrey Graeme Page yesterday began his High Court battle to recover unpaid ACC payments.

Mr Page, 51, unemployed, claims he is owed compensation for loss of earnings from 1974 which should have been paid at $180 a week.

He is believed to be receiving payment at about half that rate.

His troubles began in 1974, when he became addicted to prescription sedatives. The pills had been given to combat anxiety and insomnia brought on by his job as a trainee manager with Winstone Ltd.

Mr Page's compensation payments are based on accident compensation law at the time of his injury, and will continue throughout his life.

He was taking various sedatives - including Mellaril, Tofranil, Oxazepam and Ativan - until 1981, when he was prescribed Halcion.

"I was on a continous treatment of benzodiazepines with or without tricyclic antidepressants from 1974 through to 1988," Mr Page told the court in written evidence.

His drug addiction ended only after he began a three-year withdrawal programme in 1988.

Mr Page told the court he lodged a claim for compensation with the Accident Compensation Corporation for loss of earnings, after seeing publicity about the effects of such drugs.

ACC eventually ruled he was eligible for back-dated compensation to July 1979. However, that decision was further back-dated on appeal, to December 1974.

That appeal decision also referred to other issues, including medical expenses, lump-sum payments and costs.

After extended negotiations, Mr Page and ACC finally reached a mediated agreement on all outstanding matters in September 2001.

But Mr Page says the corporation then reneged on the agreement, leaving him "devastated".

"My health suffered badly as a result.

"It was stressful enough having the ACC claims over the years.

"Now to find that the mediated settlement of those claims appeared to have become unstuck as well was just too much.

"I was unable to sleep and in a state of constant agitation."

"I have firmly been of the view that an agreement was reached at [September 2001] mediation, when all issues were to be mediated.

"I compromised on my claims in respect of some issues.

"The mediated agreement has become unconditional, but ACC is refusing to perform it. I am seeking to have performance of the agreement ordered accordingly."

The hearing, before Justice Mark Cooper, is expected to end tomorrow.