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SoP Library › Poisoning from plants or fungi

Statement of Principles

Poisoning from plants or fungi — DVA SoP factors

Every factor in the Repatriation Medical Authority Statements of Principles for Poisoning from plants or fungi. DVA can only accept a claim for Poisoning from plants or fungi if at least one of these factors is met and connected to your service. Reasonable Hypothesis (RH) applies to operational service; Balance of Probabilities (BoP) applies to peacetime service.

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Source: Repatriation Medical Authority Statements of Principles as held by the Veterans Health Centre. SoPs are amended and replaced regularly; always confirm the current instrument at rma.gov.au before relying on it.

Poisoning from plants or fungi

RH No. 49 of 2019 · BoP No. 50 of 201914 factors

Meaning of poisoning from plants or fungi: For the purposes of this Statement of Principles, poisoning from plants or fungi: (a) means illness, injury or death from the toxic effects of a plant or fungus; and (b) includes the toxic effects of: (i) ingesting mushrooms, berries or roots; (ii) ingesting food contaminated with a mycotoxin such as aflatoxin; (iii) ingesting honey contaminated with a plant toxin such as tutin; and (iv) using a herbal medicine containing a plant toxin such as a pyrrolizidine alkaloid or aristolochic acid; and (c) excludes: (i) allergic contact dermatitis; (ii) irritant contact dermatitis; (iii) photocontact dermatitis; (iv) blepharitis; (v) conjunctivitis; (vi) malignant neoplasms; (vii) substance use disorder; (viii) coeliac disease; (ix) food allergy; and (x) the effects of exposure to pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, toiletries, alcohol and commercially prepared tobacco.

Reasonable Hypothesis (RH) — Statement of Principles No. 49 of 2019

At least one of the following factors must as a minimum exist before it can be said that a reasonable hypothesis has been raised connecting poisoning from plants or fungi or death from poisoning from plants or fungi with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:

  1. (1)
    ingesting, inhaling, injecting or having cutaneous, intradermal, mucosal or ocular exposure to a toxin from a plant or fungus within the seven days before the clinical onset of poisoning from plants or fungi;

    Note: A toxin from a fungus includes a mycotoxin (such as aflatoxin) contaminating foodstuffs (such as alcohol, eggs, fruit, grains, herbs, honey, meat, milk and milk products, nuts and seeds).

  2. (2)
    consuming milk, milk products, eggs or meat within the two weeks before the clinical onset of poisoning from plants or fungi, where those products were from an animal that ingested a plant from the Specified List 1 of plants;

    Note: Specified List 1 of plants is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.

  3. (3)
    consuming honey within the two weeks before the clinical onset of poisoning from plants or fungi, where the honey was derived from plants containing a plant toxin from the specified list of plant toxins;

    Note: specified list of plant toxins is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.

  4. (4)
    for poisoning manifesting as delayed hepatotoxicity, delayed nephrotoxicity or delayed neurotoxicity only, ingesting, inhaling, injecting or having cutaneous, intradermal, mucosal or ocular exposure to a plant from the Specified List 2 of plants within the two years before the clinical onset of poisoning from plants or fungi;

    Note: Specified List 2 of plants is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.

  5. (5)
    for poisoning manifesting as delayed hepatotoxicity, delayed neurotoxicity or delayed thyrotoxicity only, consuming milk, milk products, eggs or meat within the two years before the clinical onset of poisoning from plants or fungi, where those products were from an animal that ingested a plant from the Specified List 3 of plants;

    Note: Specified List 3 of plants is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.

  6. (6)
    for poisoning manifesting as delayed hepatotoxicity only, consuming honey within the two years before the clinical onset of poisoning from plants or fungi, where the honey was derived from plants containing a pyrrolizidine alkaloid;

    Note: Examples of plants containing a pyrrolizidine alkaloid include, but are not limited to, Borago officinalis (borage), Crotalaria sagittalis (rattlebox), Cynoglossum officinale (hound's tongue), Echium plantagineum (Patterson's curse), Heliotropium europaeum (heliotrope), Senecio jacobaea (tansy ragwort) and Symphytum officinale (comfrey).

  7. (7)
    inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for poisoning from plants or fungi;

Aggravation-only factors: the factors in subsection 9(7) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, the condition where it was suffered or contracted before or during (but did not arise out of) the person’s relevant service.

Balance of Probabilities (BoP) — Statement of Principles No. 50 of 2019

7 factors

At least one of the following factors must exist before it can be said that, on the balance of probabilities, poisoning from plants or fungi or death from poisoning from plants or fungi is connected with the circumstances of a person's relevant service:

  1. (1)
    ingesting, inhaling, injecting or having cutaneous, intradermal, mucosal or ocular exposure to a toxin from a plant or fungus within the seven days before the clinical onset of poisoning from plants or fungi;

    Note: A toxin from a fungus includes a mycotoxin (such as aflatoxin) contaminating foodstuffs (such as alcohol, eggs, fruit, grains, herbs, honey, meat, milk and milk products, nuts and seeds).

  2. (2)
    consuming milk, milk products, eggs or meat within the two weeks before the clinical onset of poisoning from plants or fungi, where those products were from an animal that ingested a plant from the Specified List 1 of plants;

    Note: Specified List 1 of plants is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.

  3. (3)
    consuming honey within the two weeks before the clinical onset of poisoning from plants or fungi, where the honey was derived from plants containing a plant toxin from the specified list of plant toxins;

    Note: specified list of plant toxins is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.

  4. (4)
    for poisoning manifesting as delayed hepatotoxicity, delayed nephrotoxicity or delayed neurotoxicity only, ingesting, inhaling, injecting or having cutaneous, intradermal, mucosal or ocular exposure to a plant from the Specified List 2 of plants within the two years before the clinical onset of poisoning from plants or fungi;

    Note: Specified List 2 of plants is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.

  5. (5)
    for poisoning manifesting as delayed hepatotoxicity, delayed neurotoxicity or delayed thyrotoxicity only, consuming milk, milk products, eggs or meat within the two years before the clinical onset of poisoning from plants or fungi, where those products were from an animal that ingested a plant from the Specified List 3 of plants;

    Note: Specified List 3 of plants is defined in the Schedule 1 - Dictionary.

  6. (6)
    for poisoning manifesting as delayed hepatotoxicity only, consuming honey within the two years before the clinical onset of poisoning from plants or fungi, where the honey was derived from plants containing a pyrrolizidine alkaloid;

    Note: Examples of plants containing a pyrrolizidine alkaloid include, but are not limited to, Borago officinalis (borage), Crotalaria sagittalis (rattlebox), Cynoglossum officinale (hound's tongue), Echium plantagineum (Patterson's curse), Heliotropium europaeum (heliotrope), Senecio jacobaea (tansy ragwort) and Symphytum officinale (comfrey).

  7. (7)
    inability to obtain appropriate clinical management for poisoning from plants or fungi;

Aggravation-only factors: the factors in subsection 9(7) apply only to material contribution to, or aggravation of, the condition where it was suffered or contracted before or during (but did not arise out of) the person’s relevant service.

A VHC Diagnostic Assessment addresses each of these factors one by one against your service record and clinical history. See how a VHC DVA claim works, see all fees ($600 + GST per stage) or book an appointment.

About Dr Thomas Perkins

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Founding doctor of the Veterans Health Centre in Ipswich, Queensland, and one of Australia's most experienced practitioners in veterans' medicolegal medicine.

Dr Perkins has spent more than thirteen years working exclusively with current and former ADF members — treating their conditions, writing their reports and navigating the DVA system alongside them. With over 100,000 claims submitted and 2,000 Permanent Impairment Assessments completed, he has seen precisely what separates an accepted claim from a rejected one at every level, from initial liability to the Veterans' Review Board.

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