How ‘Functional Neurological Disorder’ is Now Being Used to Deny Vaccine Injury Claims

Let’s call this out for what it is. There’s a new game being played — and it is costing sick and injured New Zealanders their right to justice.

In recent months, I’ve seen a disturbing pattern emerge with my clients — and it’s something I believe the public urgently needs to understand.

It’s about a medical label called Functional Neurological Disorder, or FND.

Now, FND is a real diagnosis in certain situations — but in the current climate, it’s being twisted into something else entirely: a convenient tool for shutting down legitimate ACC claims for neurological injuries caused by the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines.

How the game works

Here’s the typical story:

• A person is vaccinated, in good faith.

• Soon after, they develop significant neurological symptoms — sometimes immediately, sometimes weeks or months later.

• They lodge an ACC claim for treatment injury — as is their legal right.

• The symptoms are investigated. But instead of acknowledging mitochondrial injury, autoimmunity, microclotting, neuropathy, or other mechanisms now well-described in the literature — they are labelled as “Functional Neurological Disorder.”

• In other words: “It’s in your head.”

My own family has provided an extreme instance of gaslighting and shifting blame, which is quite shocking.

And with that label, the ACC machine swings into action:

• Claim declined — no “physical injury” proven.

• Delay, delay, delay — wearing the claimant down.

• Endless requests for further information.

• Referral to more specialists — often the same tight circle, singing the same tune.

• A thick file of psychologised language builds up — health anxiety, conversion disorder, psychosomatic amplification.

Meanwhile, the injured person — already unwell, often unable to work — cannot afford legal help or expensive private neurological reports to fight back.

Why FND? Because it suits the narrative

Let’s not kid ourselves.

There are now hundreds, possibly thousands, of neurological injury claims sitting with ACC from the vaccine rollout. The numbers are growing — I hear from new people every week.

Paying out on these would:

• Acknowledge harm on a scale that would shake public confidence.

• Create financial liability in the tens or hundreds of millions.

• Raise questions about how safe and effective these products really were.

Enter FND — the perfect out:

• Blames the patient.

• Saves face for the health establishment.

• Saves the government from a flood of compensation payouts.

The problem with labels: why symptoms are not root causes

One of the great traps in modern medicine is the obsession with labelling symptoms — instead of finding and addressing the root causes of illness and injury.

We see this again and again in cases of vaccine injury, post-viral syndromes, chronic fatigue, and neurological disorders.

A person presents with disabling symptoms — say, fatigue, tremor, neuropathy, brain fog, chest pain.

What happens? The system applies a fancy medical term:

• Functional Neurological Disorder

• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• Psychogenic movement disorder

• Somatic Symptom Disorder

• Vaso-Vagal Syncope

• Vaccine Anxiety Disorder

• Anxiety-related physiological response

• Post-viral syndrome

It sounds scientific. It fills the report nicely. But what does it tell us? Almost nothing about the root causes for why the person is ill, and failing to get better.

These are descriptive labels — not explanations. They describe what is happening, not why it is happening.

In fact, such labels often obfuscate the true underlying causes:

• Mitochondrial dysfunction

• Microclotting and endothelial injury

• Autoimmune processes

• Persistent spike protein fragments

• Viral reactivation

• Mineral and nutrient derangement

• Methylation and detoxification blockages

• Neuropathic injury

• Autonomic dysregulation

None of these root causes are addressed simply by calling someone "functional" or "anxious."

And here’s the blunt truth: If a doctor or specialist fixates only on:

• Labels

• Symptom management

• "Reassurance"

• Psychological explanations

— then the patient will almost certainly never fully recover. They may be pacified. They may be given antidepressants. But they will not be well.

Healing comes from finding and addressing the root cause — always.

That is why I remain deeply sceptical of how terms like FND are now being weaponised — not just to deny compensation, but to shut down inquiry into the real mechanisms of harm.

In my clinic, I see it this way:

If you can’t explain why the body is unwell — at the level of cells, tissues, systems — then you haven’t yet done your job as a healer.

Why it’s so hard to get a fair second opinion

In New Zealand, we have a serious problem: the closed-shop culture in medicine.

Neurology is one of the smallest and most politically sensitive specialties. Here’s the reality:

• The pool of neurologists in New Zealand is tiny.

• Many are employed in the public system — which was deeply invested in promoting the vaccine rollout.

• Others are tied to university departments, or have advisory roles with Medsafe and the Ministry of Health.

• Few are willing to go against the grain — for fear of career consequences.

• Truly independent private neurologists are almost impossible to find — and those who do exist are drowning in referrals.

In short: patients are being denied natural justice because the entire deck is stacked against them.

Follow not just the Money but also the Power and the Control.

How ACC operates in practice

If you think ACC is on your side — think again. Their behaviour on these cases follows a clear pattern:

• Delay the process — knowing that the unwell tire quickly.

• Demand more reports — raising costs for the claimant.

• Commission their own “trusted” experts — who conveniently find no injury.

• Deny, obfuscate, and exhaust the claimant financially and emotionally.

• Hope that most will eventually give up.

And many do — because fighting a government machine when you are unwell, broke, and gaslit by the very people meant to care for you is simply too much.

My advice

If you or someone you love is caught in this trap:

• Document everything.

• Do not accept a diagnosis of FND without demanding thorough investigation — including MRI, nerve conduction studies, mitochondrial function tests, and microclotting panels if needed.

• Understand that FND is now being used as a political and financial tool — not just a medical label.

• Seek out trusted advocates.

• Consider legal advice — yes, it’s expensive, but sometimes necessary.

• Do not give up — even if that is exactly what ACC is hoping for.

Concluding Remarks

• This is not healthcare. It is damage control.

• Our injured deserve better than this — they deserve the truth, and they deserve fair treatment.

• I will continue to speak out on this, and to support those fighting these cases.

• If this is happening to you, or someone close to you — reach out. You are not alone.

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Disclaimer

This article is based on my personal and professional assessment, drawn from my own research and from what I see every week in my clinic — at the coal-face of health in New Zealand. It is not intended as individual medical advice, and it does not replace the advice of your trusted healthcare provider or legal counsel. I encourage all readers to do their own careful research, to seek second opinions where possible, and to stand up for their right to fair and just treatment.