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Review of the Accident Compensation Corporation's radiation therapy injury claims, 1 July 2009-30 June 2019.

AIM
The aim of this study was to review and report on radiation therapy injury claims lodged with the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) in New Zealand in the last decade.


METHODS
ACC's treatment injury database was used to identify injury claims decided between 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2019. The associated structured and unstructured data, including claim lodgement information and medical records, were reviewed.


RESULTS
Of 121,168 treatment injuries, only 975 (0.8%) were radiation therapy injury claims, with 519 claims accepted for cover. Most declined claims were considered "ordinary consequences of treatment" rather than treatment injuries. Of the 519 accepted claims, ACC classified 21 as fatal and eight as serious, which indicates a need for lifelong ACC support. Injuries correlated with the age and gender of the most common cancers treated with radiation therapy in New Zealand. More treatment injury claims were submitted and accepted for New Zealand European patients compared with Māori and Pasifika patients.


CONCLUSION
Radiation therapy injury claims make up a very small proportion of the total number of ACC treatment injury claims. A better understanding of the claim process may assist injured individuals better by improving appropriate claim lodgement and claim acceptance rates.