A nursing aide awarded over €30,000 in compensation after an injury while at work is complaining that medicine she was taking was no longer distributed free.

Alexia Muscat fell off a ladder, from a height of about four feet, while retrieving a patient’s file at the Paola Health Centre in October 1999. She suffered a 10 per cent disability and, after suing the health authorities, she was awarded €31,446.54 in damages.

During the court case for damages, the Director General of Public Health and the Chief Government Medical Officer had objected to a claim for her to receive payment for medicine. They pointed out that the medicine in question was available free of charge from Mater Dei Hospital.

In a judicial protest, Ms Muscat said she was recently told to buy the medicine herself because it was costing the State too much. Thus, for the past few weeks, she had to fork out the money for the medication herself.

She said that, accompanied by her mother, she went to the department of social security asking for her case to be revised but a certain Anthony Cesare was both rude and insulting. He told them “he didn’t give a damn about lawyer’s letters” and that “he wrote the law”.

Her legal counsel, Joe Brincat, complained about Mr Cesare’s behaviour and was assured that an apology would be made but, to date, nothing was forthcoming.

Dr Brincat insisted that his client had a right to receive free medication for the injuries she suffered as a result of an unsafe work environment.

Ms Muscat is therefore demanding that she should continue receiving free medication and also be reimbursed for the expenses she had incurred so far.