Phillipa Scott
Business Development Manager, WA

Would you ever get plastic surgery? One look at Joan Rivers and you would have to say no to that one Have you ever done a nudie-run? Didn’t everyone who grew up in the 70s? Which actor/actress would play you in a TV mini-series about your life? Jane Fonda – a woman of strong opinions, a fitness fanatic and getting on in years! Beer, wine or hard liquor? Why isn’t coffee on that list? What would your last meal be before getting executed? Tripe and onions washed down with a sardine milkshake. Death would be a welcome release! When was the last time you bought flowers? Who were they for and why? I bought flowers for my aunt when, at the age of 87, she underwent cardiac surgery to improve her quality of life. Brave lady Do you have any phobias? One sided personal mobile phone calls on public transport What is your special talent? You should see my rap dance when I put my contact lenses in after cutting up red chillies What do you do as soon as you walk in the house after a day at work? Respond to our parrot Lionel’s “G’day mate, how ya doin’?” If you could date any celebrity past or present, who would it be? Jasper Carrott - the funniest man ever What did you dream last night? That I was caught in some floods in a Mercedes-Benz What is your nickname? Why was the nickname given to you? Jeepers. Never quite sure how that came about What was the best thing before sliced bread? Bruce Springsteen Describe yourself in five words Shy, timid, quiet, tolerant and patient What are you doing to reduce global warming? Driving a Citroen C4 diesel instead of a Maserati If you had the chance to go back in time, where would you go and why? Back to a time when we could still laugh at ourselves without always having to be politically correct If you had the choice to live with a gorilla who knows sign language or a dog who sings, which would you choose? My husband is quite hirsute and doesn’t talk much so I will leave you to work that one out!

 

Catherine Arlove
State Manager, Vic & ACT

What is your earliest childhood memory? Watching Miss Piggy throw Kermit the Frog across the stage What movie makes you cry? Whale Rider Would you ever get plastic surgery? Yes What song would you want played at your funeral? Prince’s Party Like It’s 1999 Which actress would play you in a TV mini-series about your life? Sandra Bullock What would your last meal be before getting executed? Mum’s coq au vin When was the last time you bought flowers? Who were they for and why? Last week for a neighbour who looked after our dogs while we were away Do you have any phobias? Running out of time What is your special talent? Sleeping at my desk What is your favourite party trick? Falling asleep at 10.30pm What do you do as soon as you walk in the house after a day at work? Kiss my fiancé If you could date any celebrity past or present, who would it be? Johnny Depp What did you dream last night? I don’t dream What was the best thing before sliced bread? My dad Describe yourself in five word Tanned, happy, passionate, dynamic, impatient What are you doing to reduce global warming? Change the light bulbs over If you had the chance to go back in time, where would you go and why? Ancient Egyptian times to see how they made the pyramids and ancient Greek times to have lunch with the great philosophers Which superhero would you be? Wonder Woman If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be? Eradicate poverty Have you ever broken the law? Yes, 90km in a 60km zone down Mt Dandenong Road on my push bike What did you want to be when you grew up? An astronaut What is your favourite time of day? Sunrise – there’s an anticipation of the what the day has in store Where do aliens live? In our minds What is your favourite advertisement? The BankWest advertisement where the plant speaks

I would like to find out all of the possible uses for the drug Subutex. As stated in MIMS, I understand it is used for drug withdrawal symptoms. However, I would like to know whether or not it is used for pain, or the treatment of any other conditions.

Subutex® is the proprietary name for buprenorphine. It is what is known as a synthetic opioid with properties like morphine. It has two approved indications in Australia, namely: “Maintenance of opioid dependence, including combination with naloxone” (this is one way of treatingheroin addiction), and “opioid withdrawal” (in other words assisting someone to withdraw from heroin).

I would like some medical advice about a blood condition called myelodysplastic syndrome. How would this disease impact on the post surgical recovery of an injured employee who has had right shoulder arthroscopy, acromioplasty and possibly an open cuff repair? The worker is currently under the care of a haematologist as well as her orthopaedic surgeon.

Myelodysplastic syndrome if severe, can cause haemorrhaging and can increase the susceptibility to infection which will affect recovery time.

A worker suddenly collapsed to the ground when her kneecap dislocated. She has previously had problems with the other knee which resulted in surgery. Her local GP says that because the dislocation happened at work, it must be compensable. If there is no specific precipitating incident, is it reasonable that it is not work related and instead is coincidental?

This condition is unlikely to be due to work. Generally it is constitutional in nature and is likely to be due to ligamentous laxity.

 

We have received advice from a GP stating that a claimant had a subdural haematoma due to no known pre-existing condition or traumatic event. The GP then stated that the subdural haematoma resulted from a sinus infection. The claimant has a very long history (at least 20 years) of the diagnosis of haemophilia. Please clarify whether either of these conditions would have contributed to the subdural haematoma?

The haemophilia presumably predisposed to the development of the subdural haematoma - a blood clotting defect would mean that the haematoma could develop with less trauma. The sinus problem is likely to be unrelated.

 

Across Borders Training

mlcoa was recently provided with a unique opportunity to provide professional training to a number of mlcoa WorkCover consultants across Australia. This was achievable via the marvels of digital technology, namely, mlcoa’s videoconferencing facility.

The purpose of the training was to encourage mlcoa consultants around Australia to register to become an Approved Medical Specialist (AMS) under the Western Australian WorkCover legislation for the purpose of assessing permanent impairment from outside WA. A prerequisite for thetraining is prior accreditation in the use of the AMA Guides 5th Edition.

Dr Alan Home, WorkCover WA’s training representative, delivered the AMS training by means of videoconference from our Sydney office to NSW, Victoria, SA, QLD and WA offices, with a total of 17 consultants attending.

 

Super-duper bloopers

Our Quality Assurance team takes great pleasure in providing you with accurate reports. For your amusement, here are some interesting observations that were extracted from medical reports mlcoa staff have come across in files received. Do you believe that they’re medical errors, transcription errors or other?

Treatment includes physiotherapy with use of a TENS machine, heat, ultrasound and rubbing of the neck to loosen her head. [I hope it doesn’t fall off]

He still works on normal duties. He has been in the Air Force for 11½ years. Currently he is flying a desk but he is usually involved with missile maintenance.

He and his wife take their boat for a swim. [I hope their boat enjoys that!]

She lives in her 22-year-old son…[Sounds cosy]

He said he could comfortably bend to touch his knees and could possibly bend to touch his toes for a very large sum of money, but said the pain afterwards would be considerable. As there was no money on offer we settled for touching his knees.

She said that she recalled feeling dazzled and that when the car stopped her head was on the road. She recalled that she had lifted her head up to look through the windscreen and felt like blacking out. [I would too if my head was detached from my body and laying on the road in front of me!]

He drinks no alcohol but keeps a small dog. [Am I missing something here???]

He tends to put one foot after the other up the stairs. [Isn’t that how we all do it?]

He also has episodes where he has attacks of imbalance and his head will spin in an anticlockwise direction… [Perhaps they could give him a role in the Exorcist?]

Mr X stated that he had a relationship with the driver of the car who struck him for a total of five years. [You would think being struck by a car for five years would be enough to put in a claim of harassment!]

On 9 January 2007 Mr Y attended on his own. His wife remains in the waiting room. [To this date? That means she’s been there for over two years!]

He spreads mulch using a fitch pork. [Is that a pitch fork for dyslexics??]

Ms Z will go to bed at approximately 9:30pm and sleep through until approximately 7am. She said she used to be able to sleep in until 11am but she finds she cannot any more. [I’m surprised to hear that sleeping 13½ hours a night is difficult to achieve]