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Warning: This article discusses suicide and may be distressing for some readers.��

A woman who tried to take her own life claimed her actions were linked to medication she was on to ease complications from surgery she’d had years earlier.��

The woman went to��ACC seeking compensation��for an injury she says occurred from the suicide attempt but she was turned down because it didn’t meet the criteria for a personal injury claim.��

But now, a court has instructed the Crown accident insurer to look again at whether the woman was entitled to cover for personal injury.��

An organisation that supports families bereaved by suicide, or those that are suicidal, told ��һ�ǿ����� it was a “significant decision”.��

A spokesperson for Life Matters Suicide Prevention Trust | Te Whare Oranga Ngākau said the decision could have wide-ranging ramifications for people suffering mental distress who are receiving a prescribed medication that adversely affects their lives.��

The woman, whose name and all identifying details were suppressed, first attempted suicide in 2000. She was dealing with a marriage breakdown and had difficulty coping with children and a career adjustment at the time.��

Ten years later, she received follow-up by psychiatric support after a second attempt.��

She was taking medication prescribed for pain relief, later found to be a drug more commonly prescribed to people with anxiety disorders.��

The District Court has found that a reasonable interpretation of the woman’s claim was based on a treatment injury caused by the effects of prescribed medication.��

The judgment, released earlier this month, followed a decision by ACC in August 2022 to decline cover for the suicide attempt, saying it did not comprise a personal injury. An application for a review of that decision was dismissed in December 2022 for the same reason.��

The woman then lodged an appeal in the District Court in January 2023.��

Judge Peter Spiller has now set aside the reviewer’s decision and has directed the corporation to undertake a fresh assessment of the claim, including whether the woman was entitled to cover for a treatment injury related to her suicide attempt in September 2000.��

He said the woman’s position was that because treatment for chronic pain led to her attempt on her own life, it should be regarded as a treatment injury because it caused physical and psychological consequences.��

“These physical consequences, and the other minor physical injuries suffered by the appellant in the suicide attempt, are collectively a treatment injury,” Judge Spiller said.��

The woman said in a statement in the review proceedings that there was “so much shame” attached to what had occurred.��

“Attempted suicides are seldom talked about, but in 2000 it was even harder,” she said.��

In 2013, consultant psychiatrist Dr Pamela Bennett provided an opinion on the causes and impact of the woman’s suicide attempt.��

In 1980, she had a knee operation and was given a commonly prescribed drug for pain relief, to which she was found to be allergic. Two years later, she was back in hospital to have a screw removed from her knee and was offered the same pain relief but under a different name.��

This time, she was reported as having an anaphylactic reaction that left her unconscious.��

The woman then applied to ACC for medical misadventure, which was declined. The woman claimed she was told in a psychiatric review that her pain was psychological in origin.��

A further review by legal and medical experts judged her as having a 42 per cent disability as a result of the time she had spent lying down following the anaphylactic reaction and the claim was subsequently accepted by ACC.��

Bennett said the woman had received various treatments for the chronic pain over the years, none of which were very successful.��

In 1997, she was prescribed clonazepam as well as amitryptilline for pain relief.��

Bennett said clonazepam was a benzodiazepam that was used as an “anxiolytic” for people with anxiety disorders.��

Neuropsychiatrist Gil Newburn said clonazepam “likely played a material role” in the appellant attempting suicide and that amitriptyline taken in excessive amounts caused “numerous harmful physiological effects”.��

The woman said in the first year after starting the clonazepam she began to have constant thoughts of suicide but was not feeling depressed at the time.��

Her attempted suicide in 2000 resulted in a diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Bennett said.��

The woman continued to have what was described as “random and frequent suicidal thoughts” but she was not depressed and remained at work.��

One night in 2010, after a disagreement with her husband, she locked herself in a room after acting “impulsively”. She was found the next morning and taken to hospital.��

It was Bennett’s opinion the case was a continuation of the original medical misadventure and the woman did have a mental injury arising from the event in 2000.��

The woman remained on the medication until February 2011 when she stopped taking it on a doctor’s advice.��

The suicide prevention trust told ��һ�ǿ����� that physical and psychological harm that arose from prescribed medication was no different from other medical misadventures where ACC cover was provided.��

SUICIDE AND DEPRESSION��

Where to get help:��•��: 0800 543 354 (available 24/7)��
•��: 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO (available 24/7)��
• Youth services: (06) 3555 906��
•��: 0800 376 633��
•��: 0800 942 8787 (11am to11pm)��
•��: 0800 111 757 (available 24/7)��
• Rainbow Youth: (09) 376 4155��
• Helpline: 1737��
If it is an emergency and you feel like you or someone else is at risk, call 111.��

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at ��һ�ǿ�����. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.��