00:00Adam Watts was a New South Wales police officer for 17 years before he medically retired with PTSD in 2012.
00:12One of the first jobs I did was a young guy that gassed himself in the car and then the mother wanted answers and I had no answers to give her.
00:20But life after the force has been anything but easy.
00:24In 2019 he was diagnosed with Graves disease, an autoimmune condition which causes bulging eyes and a swollen neck.
00:33His psychologists attributed the diagnosis to work-induced stress and under their advice his entire thyroid gland was removed in 2023.
00:43But when he put in a claim for the $6,000 surgery bill with the police's insurer, EML, it was denied.
00:50I've lost my career, my livelihood, my health and my future is battling EML.
00:55The 56-year-old took his fight to the Personal Injury Commission where EML relied on the opinion of a doctor who never consulted or examined the former officer but rather read his medical records.
01:07EML's doctor suggested Mr Watts was not markedly stressed leading up to his 2019 diagnosis.
01:14A claim which contradicted notes from his treating doctor that same year about his severe anxiety, lethargy and depression.
01:23EML also claimed the jury was still out on whether stress could cause Graves disease but conceded there was references in medical literature linking stress as a potential cause for 70 years.
01:37The pressure they put on you is just immense.
01:39More than a year after the claim was first lodged, the Personal Injury Commission ordered EML to cover Mr Watts' surgery bill.
01:47The tribunal found that submissions from the insurer's doctor were brief, unclear and based upon an assumption not supported by evidence.
01:57In a statement, EML told the ABC it was unable to comment on individual claims.
02:03You shouldn't have to deal with that but that's the way you're treated as a police officer in this state.
02:07It's probably a tougher job now.
02:09Workers' compensation lawyer Shane Butcher has represented dozens of former officers seeking compensation from New South Wales Police.
02:17He says these types of disputes only delay their recovery.
02:21We put these people in harm's way to protect us as a society and we have no system in place to ensure that they're looked after when they go into the workers' compensation system.
02:31A call to minimise harm for those who are employed to do the same.
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