In the 2000s the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association of New Zealand argued that all children diagnosed with this genetic disorder should receive fully funded growth-hormone treatment. In 2006 Tom McLellan's parents, Rachel and Shaun, were paying $18,000 a year for growth hormone injections, because Tom was 5 millimetres too tall to qualify for subsidised treatment through funding agency Pharmac.
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Otago Daily Times
Photograph by Rosie Manins
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