Centrelink Denies Doctors Certificates while under treatment, and I'm on Disability Support for Job Search like thousands of others and recently they changed  "THE LAW", and my Doctors Certificate was denied, and treatment is going badly.

My name is Michael and I’m 58 years of age and I have been out of work for over three years now. I am under Disability Support for Job Search with Red Cross Disabilities Services at Margate and Centrelink has me back on Newstart Job Search who won’t accept a Doctor’s Certificate saying I am unfit for work for any amount of hours.

There is quite a few debilitating injuries and treatments that are not working for my physical and mental condition recently, and it is only getting worse being exacerbated by the constant threat of Centrelink to cancel my payments if I don’t comply. So I am Job Searching to get a job because I need the money for my treatments anyway.

At the moment my Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSAS), treatment has not been successful and my condition gets worse every day. I am getting sick and tired and frustrated of being unable to afford anything on Newstart Job Search and I need another Mask (Fisher and Paykel FFM L) $300, a Humidifier $350 and a heated Hose $75 = $725 for my Sleep Apnea treatment to continue, for the CPAP machine supplied by The Prince Charles Hospital Sleep Clinic doesn’t come with a Humidifier and Heated Hose,  and so I will remain very tired, grumpy, snappy indecisive and forgetful until my treatment can move forward with at least a Mask, and I have already used up all my superannuation to pay the bills over the last three years.

I do however have a CPAP machine which I needed to hire at the beginning of my treatment and the contract came with a free mask, (total contract cost 6 months x $93.30=$559.80) sitting on my dresser doing nothing for a few more months, before I qualified for my CPAP machine supplied by The Prince Charles Hospital Sleep Clinic which needs a Humidifier and Heated Hose for the required new Full Face Mask.

Unfortunately the first sleep clinic study Prescription prescribing Pressure Setting: 11.0 cm H2O and a Pillow Mask, which after a couple of months had not worked, and a Chin support strap was suggested to stop my mouth from purging, but still no success, then I was organised for a second Sleep Clinic Study and given a second Prescription with Pressure Setting: 16.0 cm H2O and another Mask (Fisher and Paykel FFM L) specifically, and the free Pillow Mask (which was included into the cost of the hire contract, valued at $250) is not useful anymore, and I do have the original copies of prescriptions and any other document required for evidence.

 The hired unit does have a humidifier built in and a Heated Hose and all I need is a new mask to attach to it and that would continue my treatment, for a few more months, until I have to return the unit at the end of the contract as I could use the money towards a Humidifier and Heated Hose which I will need.

The following debilitating injuries that I have been undergoing treatment for over the last three years are; Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSAS), ASD-(Anxiety Disorder Syndrome) anxiety and depression, Displaced Vertebra L4/L5 pinching nerve causing lower body numbness, Osteoarthritis in right knee and developing in left knee, left leg Muscle and Nerve Damage, Spur on left heel pinching nerve and a Hiatal Hernia.

Some of my injuries are few years older, and now I have Osteoarthritis, all my old injuries are starting to ache constantly, Broken Ribs on Spine and Muscle Spasms, Severed Nerve left thumb 90% use and locks up excruciatingly and un-expectantly at times and I’m left handed with terrible writing, right wrist broken Damaged Nerve, Lump/Scar left eyebrow migraines, floating bone chip in left elbow can’t lean on it at all excruciating pain if chip moves.

My health condition at the moment leaves me very tired, grumpy, snappy indecisive and forgetful all the time, and I am having trouble using my walking stick for stability lately due to my shoulder joints being aggravated by the continual use of my walking stick even though they were troublesome already, and stairs are a challenge, and my right knee has collapsed under me in excruciating pain a few times since I was diagnosed with arthritis.

Due to my condition, tiredness, micro sleeps, and falling asleep any time during the day, mainly from Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSAS), I have been told by the Sleep Clinic doctor not to drive or operate any machinery whilst under treatment. I have trouble reading now with eye sight going blurry; the eye drops are not working lately, and I’m reading through blurry patches and little black dots popping into vision and has taken me over a week to write this letter.

My doctor has me seeing, on a regular basis, a Dietician doing an Eating and Feeling Diary with fresh fruit and veggies and no processed foods including meat, a Clinical Psychologist for anxiety, depression and assorted issues and writing out my head so to speak, and a Physiotherapist who has me doing Hydrotherapy with an exercise sheet twice a week for about an hour at the Dolphin’s Health Centre in Redcliffe at $3 per visit.

These professionals are my only network of people who keep me motivated. I was ostracised by my mother and sister as they did not want me around my nephews calling me a bad influence for they were mimicking me and calling me Cool Uncle Mike, I only treated them as equals, not children. It’s been about 20 years since any contact of my family, and it has been slowly building up inside me emotionally as I am a family oriented person and Christmas time stirs up my emotions and now I fear Christmas time these days, I’m scared of conflict due to my father mostly, and tend to close myself off from the world in case I have an outburst, mimicking my father, a bad habit I feel I have picked up from him even though he died quite a few years ago.

My doctor has me on medication to manage pain and I am learning to live with it as it is a part of growing old unfortunately, so I’ve been told, and a list of Prescriptions to manage my conditions which are; Meloxicam, Perindopril, Paroxetine, Pantoprazole, Paracetamol, Salbutamol, (Systane Balance and Systane Gel Drops for puffy, sore, dry and itchy eyes caused by Osteoarthritis and Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSAS)), around$50 per month.

I am looking for a part time job, but due to my condition, I’m unable to use most of my skill, but the bad news is my forklift license has expired during my period of unemployment, and due to my physical condition, I wonder if they would renew it?

I use a walking stick and scuffle along at half a pace and step, grunting and groaning whenever I get up from any position and constantly yawning.

I don’t sleep well waking every hour or two getting up at 5 or 6am due to Severe Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSAS), a problem I have had for decades, too sore and stiff to stay in bed and too tired to stay awake with puffy, sore, dry and itchy eyes placing two drop in them every few hours then it takes me a few hours to wake up and only good for a few hours before I get too tired to stay awake after lunch, and have to have an afternoon nap and then OK for a few more hours and then head for bed about 7pm.

I took a doctors certificate to Centrelink with a period of three months, still waiting for Sleep Apnea treatment to help my condition, and they knocked it back, and my treatment has been totally unsuccessful, and my condition is only getting worse every day.

The main reason for this letter is to mention that even though all the professionals who are helping me physically and mentally, think I’m a case for a Disability Pension, but the question I’m asking is, since they changed the law for disability pension, it states that while under treatment, a Doctors Certificate is denied, and if I get a job how long will I last before the employee gets totally annoyed and questions why I’m even looking for a job when I’m not fit enough.

I asked them why the doctor’s certificate is denied and they said they are just following the law. Even with all the evidence, Doctors Certificate, Clinical Psychologist reports, X-rays and reports on all of my physical and mental issues.

I downloaded “The law” as they mentioned which is “Statute Law Revision Act 2012, No. 136 2012, is what I found. I can’t be 100% sure if this is the right one, but after reading and digesting it over a few weeks, it seem like you have to be a vegetable or totally blind before you can get a Disability Pension.

After all this, it is difficult to live on Newstart, which I have been on for the last three years and I have chewed up my Superannuation paying bills over the last three years. The $93.30 for the CPAP hire is a big chunk out of my monthly expenses, and does not give me any chance to save any money for treatment e.g. Mask, and rego which is due soon and tyres needed, and I’m lucky to have $20 in the bank at the end of every fortnight.

The disability pension will offer me a little more money which would help as the professionals who are helping me have given me a lot of good living skills and tools to be able to survive and afford a healthier eating and living situation. So far, I have lost 23 Kilo’s of weight in 14 months and still at least another 20-40 to go, weighing in at 150 Kilo’s, at the moment, and my eating habits have changed so much, and anything good for you is expensive due to necessity of the majority.

So I need more income to afford treatment, so I need a job, even part time, but I’m not physically fit to work, so why can’t Centrelink accept a doctor’s certificate so I can relax and get on with treatment?  That’s my question! Or put me on a pension? Or out of my misery? Or give me a mask?

I’m at a catch 22 situation and my emotions and anxiety has been through the roof over the past three years and hasn’t had much of a chance to lower much, and it’s frustrating me to no end. All I can do is follow “The Law” as Centrelink puts it and if I get a job and it back fires well I can turn around to Centrelink and say “Your law sucks big time” or “I told you so”.

So if a doctors certificate, and we’re talking about a professional in their chosen field, says I’m unfit for work, why is a doctors certificate denied and I’m still looking for work? And I think this is a question to ask for the greater good for anyone with physical and mental health issues on Disability Support.