OT:Class Action Launched Over Lyme Disease That Australian Health Authorities Pr

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Class Action Launched Over Lyme Disease That Australian Health Authorities Pretend Doesn't ExistBrisbane Times

A SYDNEY woman will launch a class action against New South Wales health authorities after autopsy results showed her husband was riddled with a disease the Health Department says does not exist in Australia. The results from Karl McManus, 44 - who died in July after being bitten by a tick while filming the television show Home and Away in northern Sydney - indicate he had bacteria from Lyme disease in his liver, heart, kidney and lungs. Tissue samples will now be sent to the University of Sydney and to laboratories in the US for more testing. ''If there is duplication of results, the government cannot dispute that Lyme exists in Australia,'' his wife, Mualla Akinci, said. Ms Akinci has already garnered support from two other sufferers and hopes more people join the class action. She also plans to sue Hornsby Hospital, where her husband spent several weeks before his death, and will appeal a decision by the Health Care Complaints Commission not to investigate his treatment there.Kate Benson, Brisbane Times