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Otago Daily
Times
May 10, 2002
Compensation for Lake Alice patients may see others also claim
by Gail
Goodger
Offering Government cash
awards to allegedly mistreated former Lake Alice psychiatric patients could
increase political pressure for others to receive settlements, including former
Cherry Farm patients, a Dunedin mental health law specialist says.
The Government has responded by reaching a settlement with 95 former patients
who filed legal proceedings and giving other patients, who might not want to be
involved in legal proceedings, two months to apply for a cash award under a
Government-funded scheme.
University of Otago associate professor John Dawson, a specialist in mental
health law, said while that did not mean the Government was legally bound to
accept claims from other psychiatric hospitals' former patients, it was likely
to incite them to exert political pressure, which could lead to more Government
settlements.
Although incidents at Cherry Farm had been investigated, the Government had not
settled with claimants. Cherry Farm, near
Some former patients alleged in the early 1990s they were still suffering the
consequences of deep sleep therapy used at the hospital in the mid-1970s.
Deep sleep did not have the scientific validation to be used at that time, Prof
Dawson said.
It involved administering a combination of drugs to induce sleep for up to
eight weeks.
A report by a barrister and solicitor in 1991 included affidavits from former
Cherry Farm patients still suffering spasms, emotional instability and constant
movement.
In most cases, there was no evidence the treatment was monitored for effectiveness.
The amount and nature of drugs used were "not consistent with sound
clinical practice", the report's authors said.
But a two-year Medical Council investigation subsequently cleared the Cherry
Farm psychiatrist of misconduct, saying the patients had not received deep
sleep therapy but modified narcosis, which induced light sleep for up to 18
hours a day, allowing patients to get up, eat and exercise.
The treatment was not improper or unreasonable at the time, the council said.
The Accident Compensation Corporation paid compensation to at least one of the
former patients who had modified narcosis therapy.
The Government has set aside $6.5 million for settling claims by former
Prime Minister Helen Clark and Health Minister Annette King yesterday said in a
joint statement that the cut-off date for claimants was June 30. The
availability of the cash awards was announced in October last year.
Another 60 former patients have so far come forward.
The process should ensures equitable treatment for all former patients,
including those who did not want to face a potentially painful and costly legal
battle, the ministers said.
Claimants can contact the
Those eligible include anyone who was aged 16 years or under and was a resident
at the