A VICTORIAN doctor and researcher says Australia’s federal and state governments are liable for the suffering of people with Lyme disease.
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Dr Ivan Hooper, of Halls Gap, has initiated ACCC action against Australian pathology companies that test for Lyme disease.
He said the action was at an early stage but was sparked by the deaths of four people with Lyme disease this year.
“I have witnessed the continual abuse of people with Lyme disease,” he said. “Many people have been misdiagnosed, abused by medical system and given misleading information.
“I am hearing of four or five people and day being maltreated (and) I know of four deaths this year.
“We’ll be compiling information and asking people to submit to ACCC their problems. This is about 30 years overdue.
“There’s a lot of liability overhanging them.”
Mr Hooper said the government was also liable because it had upheld the line that Lyme disease was not in Australia.
He said the amount of tests coming back positive, especially from people who had never left Australia, was evidence of its existence.
“They have put out the information that it’s not in Australia and continued with this line of evidence when it is clearly false.”
He is hoping his action with the ACCC will lead to a Royal Commission into the matter.
“It’s the only way people will have this issue addressed,” he said.
“I also want to see appropriate social initiatives, and changes to all government departments, from education, to Centrelink, to our medical systems and hospitals.”
