28 March 2023
H Rogers
[FYI request #20238 email]
Kia ora H Rogers
Your Official Information Act request, reference: GOV-023764
Thank you for your email of 7 March 2023, asking for the following information about lump sum
compensation payments made for accepted claims involving surgical mesh, under the Official Information
Act 1982 (the Act):
1.
The claims should have been made between 1 January 2017 to 1 March 2023.
2.
I am seeking information on the lowest to highest lump sum compensation payments made by
ACC in respect of the use of surgical mesh.
Treatment injury data
A treatment injury is a personal injury caused as a result of seeking or receiving medical treatment from a
registered health professional. To have cover for a treatment injury claim, the person must have suffered a
personal injury, and there must be a clear causal link between the treatment and the injury, and the injury
must not be a necessary part or ordinary consequence of the treatment.
To be eligible for a lump sum payment for their claim a client needs:
• a date of injury on or after 1 April 2002
• a whole person impairment rating of 10% or more.
Lump sum payments for mesh treatment injury claims
There are 55 surgical mesh claims (accepted for cover between 1 January 2017 and 1 March 2023) that
have lump sum compensation payments made. To date, the total lump sum compensation payments made
on these claims is $878,245 (excluding GST). We have provided these payments in bands.
Payment Band
Accepted Claims
$1,000 - $5,000
12
$5,000 - $10,000
19
$10,000 - $30,000
16
$30,000 - $50,000
..
$50,000- 100,000
<4
Total
55
This data was extracted on 14 March 2023 and could change if extracted again later.
GOV-023764 Page 1 of 2
Claim counts fewer than four
One value in the table only indicates that the number is less than 4 (denoted as <4). In another instance, a
value is supressed and shown as (..). This limits the potential for particular individuals, or matters specific to
certain individuals, from being identified.
Withholding information in this way is necessary to protect our clients’ privacy. This decision is made under
section 9(2)(a) of the Act. In doing so, we have considered the public interest in making the information
available and have determined that it does not outweigh the need to protect our clients’ privacy.
As this information may be of interest to other members of the public
ACC may decide to proactively release a copy of this response on ACC’s website. All requester data,
including your name and contact details, will be removed prior to release. The released response will be
made availab
le www.acc.co.nz/resources/#/category/12. If you have any questions about this response, please get in touch
You can email me a
t [email address]. If you are not happy with this response, you can also contact the Ombudsman via
[email address] or by phoning 0800 802 602.
Information about how to make a complaint is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz. Ngā mihi
Sara Freitag
Acting Manager Official Information Act Services
Government Engagement
GOV-023764 Page 2 of 2
