Four day week firms as win-win for workers and business
A large-scale, peer-reviewed study has found a four-day working week could reduce employee burnout and improve job satisfaction.
But the research released also found that working fewer hours improved their workplace performance, according to insights gleaned from more than 500 Australian and New Zealand employees.
The findings released on Tuesday follow a series of significant trials of four-day working weeks in nations including the UK, Canada and Germany, and after the Greens proposed a national pilot program during the federal election campaign.
The research by academics at Boston University and published in the Nature Human Behaviour journal investigated experiences at 141 companies testing four-day working weeks with no reduction in employee pay.
The companies across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, the US and UK prepared for the trial by reorganising their operations and eliminating low-value activities such as "unnecessary meetings" for two months, before reducing workers' hours.
Researchers led by Wen Fan and Juliet Schor compared the experience of the 2896 employees to a control group of employees working a typical five-day week.
After six months, those who spent fewer hours at work were less likely to suffer burnout, had a higher rate of job satisfaction and better mental and physical health.
"We find that work time reduction is associated with improvements in employee wellbeing - a pattern not observed in the control companies," the study said.
"Across outcomes, the magnitude is larger for the two work-related measures - burnout and job satisfaction - followed by mental health, with the smallest changes reported in physical health."
Reducing work hours also improved performance and productivity, the employees reported, due to lower levels of fatigue and fewer sleeping problems.
Companies that reduced weekly working hours by eight experienced the biggest gains, the research found, although modest improvements were observed with reductions of between one and four hours.
While the study mirrored findings from similar research, University of Otago academic Paula O'Kane said it provided more evidence that boosting productivity did not necessarily mean boosting workloads.
"Traditionally, time spent working is used a proxy for productivity when, in fact, better rested and healthier people can be more productive in less time," she said.
"While the study centred on a four-day week, the broader implication is clear: flexible and potentially individualised working arrangements can deliver similar benefits."
The findings come as the federal government prepares to hold its Economic Reform Roundtable in Canberra to investigate ways to boost Australia's productivity and create a more sustainable, resilient economy.
Labour productivity fell by one per cent in the year to March, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, even though the number of hours worked rose by 2.3 per cent.
Extending the weekend could be the recipe for improving employee health and the secret sauce to boost business productivity.
A large-scale, peer-reviewed study has found a four-day working week could reduce employee burnout and improve job satisfaction.
But the research released also found that working fewer hours improved their workplace performance, according to insights gleaned from more than 500 Australian and New Zealand employees.
The findings released on Tuesday follow a series of significant trials of four-day working weeks in nations including the UK, Canada and Germany, and after the Greens proposed a national pilot program during the federal election campaign.
The research by academics at Boston University and published in the Nature Human Behaviour journal investigated experiences at 141 companies testing four-day working weeks with no reduction in employee pay.
The companies across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, the US and UK prepared for the trial by reorganising their operations and eliminating low-value activities such as "unnecessary meetings" for two months, before reducing workers' hours.
Researchers led by Wen Fan and Juliet Schor compared the experience of the 2896 employees to a control group of employees working a typical five-day week.
After six months, those who spent fewer hours at work were less likely to suffer burnout, had a higher rate of job satisfaction and better mental and physical health.
"We find that work time reduction is associated with improvements in employee wellbeing - a pattern not observed in the control companies," the study said.
"Across outcomes, the magnitude is larger for the two work-related measures - burnout and job satisfaction - followed by mental health, with the smallest changes reported in physical health."
Reducing work hours also improved performance and productivity, the employees reported, due to lower levels of fatigue and fewer sleeping problems.
Companies that reduced weekly working hours by eight experienced the biggest gains, the research found, although modest improvements were observed with reductions of between one and four hours.
While the study mirrored findings from similar research, University of Otago academic Paula O'Kane said it provided more evidence that boosting productivity did not necessarily mean boosting workloads.
"Traditionally, time spent working is used a proxy for productivity when, in fact, better rested and healthier people can be more productive in less time," she said.
"While the study centred on a four-day week, the broader implication is clear: flexible and potentially individualised working arrangements can deliver similar benefits."
The findings come as the federal government prepares to hold its Economic Reform Roundtable in Canberra to investigate ways to boost Australia's productivity and create a more sustainable, resilient economy.
Labour productivity fell by one per cent in the year to March, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, even though the number of hours worked rose by 2.3 per cent.
Extending the weekend could be the recipe for improving employee health and the secret sauce to boost business productivity.
A large-scale, peer-reviewed study has found a four-day working week could reduce employee burnout and improve job satisfaction.
But the research released also found that working fewer hours improved their workplace performance, according to insights gleaned from more than 500 Australian and New Zealand employees.
The findings released on Tuesday follow a series of significant trials of four-day working weeks in nations including the UK, Canada and Germany, and after the Greens proposed a national pilot program during the federal election campaign.
The research by academics at Boston University and published in the Nature Human Behaviour journal investigated experiences at 141 companies testing four-day working weeks with no reduction in employee pay.
The companies across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, the US and UK prepared for the trial by reorganising their operations and eliminating low-value activities such as "unnecessary meetings" for two months, before reducing workers' hours.
Researchers led by Wen Fan and Juliet Schor compared the experience of the 2896 employees to a control group of employees working a typical five-day week.
After six months, those who spent fewer hours at work were less likely to suffer burnout, had a higher rate of job satisfaction and better mental and physical health.
"We find that work time reduction is associated with improvements in employee wellbeing - a pattern not observed in the control companies," the study said.
"Across outcomes, the magnitude is larger for the two work-related measures - burnout and job satisfaction - followed by mental health, with the smallest changes reported in physical health."
Reducing work hours also improved performance and productivity, the employees reported, due to lower levels of fatigue and fewer sleeping problems.
Companies that reduced weekly working hours by eight experienced the biggest gains, the research found, although modest improvements were observed with reductions of between one and four hours.
While the study mirrored findings from similar research, University of Otago academic Paula O'Kane said it provided more evidence that boosting productivity did not necessarily mean boosting workloads.
"Traditionally, time spent working is used a proxy for productivity when, in fact, better rested and healthier people can be more productive in less time," she said.
"While the study centred on a four-day week, the broader implication is clear: flexible and potentially individualised working arrangements can deliver similar benefits."
The findings come as the federal government prepares to hold its Economic Reform Roundtable in Canberra to investigate ways to boost Australia's productivity and create a more sustainable, resilient economy.
Labour productivity fell by one per cent in the year to March, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, even though the number of hours worked rose by 2.3 per cent.
Extending the weekend could be the recipe for improving employee health and the secret sauce to boost business productivity.
A large-scale, peer-reviewed study has found a four-day working week could reduce employee burnout and improve job satisfaction.
But the research released also found that working fewer hours improved their workplace performance, according to insights gleaned from more than 500 Australian and New Zealand employees.
The findings released on Tuesday follow a series of significant trials of four-day working weeks in nations including the UK, Canada and Germany, and after the Greens proposed a national pilot program during the federal election campaign.
The research by academics at Boston University and published in the Nature Human Behaviour journal investigated experiences at 141 companies testing four-day working weeks with no reduction in employee pay.
The companies across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, the US and UK prepared for the trial by reorganising their operations and eliminating low-value activities such as "unnecessary meetings" for two months, before reducing workers' hours.
Researchers led by Wen Fan and Juliet Schor compared the experience of the 2896 employees to a control group of employees working a typical five-day week.
After six months, those who spent fewer hours at work were less likely to suffer burnout, had a higher rate of job satisfaction and better mental and physical health.
"We find that work time reduction is associated with improvements in employee wellbeing - a pattern not observed in the control companies," the study said.
"Across outcomes, the magnitude is larger for the two work-related measures - burnout and job satisfaction - followed by mental health, with the smallest changes reported in physical health."
Reducing work hours also improved performance and productivity, the employees reported, due to lower levels of fatigue and fewer sleeping problems.
Companies that reduced weekly working hours by eight experienced the biggest gains, the research found, although modest improvements were observed with reductions of between one and four hours.
While the study mirrored findings from similar research, University of Otago academic Paula O'Kane said it provided more evidence that boosting productivity did not necessarily mean boosting workloads.
"Traditionally, time spent working is used a proxy for productivity when, in fact, better rested and healthier people can be more productive in less time," she said.
"While the study centred on a four-day week, the broader implication is clear: flexible and potentially individualised working arrangements can deliver similar benefits."
The findings come as the federal government prepares to hold its Economic Reform Roundtable in Canberra to investigate ways to boost Australia's productivity and create a more sustainable, resilient economy.
Labour productivity fell by one per cent in the year to March, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, even though the number of hours worked rose by 2.3 per cent.
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Penny Thompson spent nearly 13 years and thousands of dollars trying to get a diagnosis for her "mystery illness", which paralysed her vocal cords, damaged her nerves and left her unable to work, socialise or study. Finally, last year, with a litany of specialists left scratching their heads, the NSW Illawarra region woman began to suspect that the very things she had been using to ease her symptoms were actually poisoning her. Now, grieving and overwhelmed by all she has lost over more than a decade, Ms Thompson, 61, of Wollongong, south of Sydney, has registered her interest in a class action against supplement giant Blackmores, as health practitioners and patients begin to realise the extent of vitamin B6 poisoning. "Before this happened, I was a bloody fitness instructor and now I struggle to work," she said. "I haven't been out socially at night for 10 years. I can't drive for more than 20 minutes. I can't go travelling, I can't go bushwalking. "I struggle to work in my garden at home and it took me nine-and-a-half years to complete a three year university degree. "I just feel overwhelmed, I get angry, I get full of grief for all I've lost." In recent months, there have been growing reports of toxicity related to vitamin B6, which is naturally found in meat, fruit and vegetables but which is also now added to many vitamin supplements, shakes and energy drinks and is present in thousands of products on the Australian market.. According to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, taking too much can cause nerve damage, which many people experience as peripheral neuropathy - or numbness and tingling in the fingers and toes. After an increase in reports about this condition, the regulator recently recommended stricter regulations and stronger warnings. It has also noted that there is no consensus on a safe level of B6. In May, Melbourne's Polaris Lawyers announced it was pursuing a class action investigation against Blackmores, on behalf of anyone who has suffered injuries after taking its supplements "containing higher than recommended levels of vitamin B6". A Blackmores spokesperson said the company was committed to the highest standards of product quality and consumer safety. "All our products, including those containing vitamin B6, are developed in strict accordance with the regulatory requirements of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)," they said. They said the company would "ensure full compliance" with any changes the regulator makes. Ms Thompson's health struggles began back in 2012, when she went to the GP complaining of numbness in her hands and feet. She had recently moved back to Australia, and was busy and tired working three jobs and buying a house, so started taking vitamin supplements "to give me energy". "I just didn't feel right and my hands and feet were a bit numb but my GP said it was my age, or probably menopause," she said. "I said, 'I've seemed to lose weight', and he just went, 'fancy a woman in her 40s complaining of losing weight, ha ha ha', so I just left it." "But I was getting more and more fatigued and so, in 2013, I started keeping a really detailed health diary because I thought maybe I had a food allergy because I thought I was being poisoned." That kicked off a "pretty expensive" 10-year journey of seeing specialists, including neurologists, ENT doctors, cardiologists, pain specialists, rheumatologists and having nerve conduction studies or tests for heavy metals poisoning. "I was always very thorough when I saw them, because I was studying science, and I was keeping these diaries and they'd always ask you on the new patient form, please list all your medications, prescription and non-prescription so I'd write this huge list of stuff down, but none of them said anything." By late 2019, when she was working as an English teacher at TAFE, she noticed her voice changing. "I was working about three days a week and I just noticed that my voice was starting to get very, very soft, very weak, very tired," she said. "It was when the drought was happening and there were lots of bushfires, smoke and dust and I thought that's what was causing it. "But that winter I'd had a doctor who said taking zinc was good for preventing respiratory disease - I wanted to choose the best and so I bought Blackmores Bio Zinc, but what I didn't realise was that it had 50mg of B6 in it." "I was popping these things every day, and I can see now that my symptoms - like headaches and migraines and gut pain and constipation were adding up, and by September my voice had become really weak and strained. "I just thought it was the dust and the bushfires and I just kept taking the B6, and then I'd lost my voice completely and had to give up work." As COVID hit, she was diagnosed with a completely paralysed left vocal cord, but was left without medical support. She began experiencing cramps, and started taking another supplement called Super Magnesium. "It also had 50 mg of B6 and, because I was getting all these migraines and I was pretty stressed because I'd lost my job and the whole COVID crap was starting, I was also taking Blackmores Executive Stress, which had another 25 milligrams of B6," Ms Thompson said. "At one stage that I was taking 125mg per day of B6, and just feeling worse and worse and worse." Years and many more appointments on, in September 2024, Ms Thompson saw a warning on the Therapeutic Goods Administration that made her suspect that her vitamins may have been poisoning her. She stopped taking them. "Magically, the gut pain, the constipation, the food intolerances all just disappeared within a couple of months," she said. "The anxiety lifted, the migraines eased off, the twitching and all that stuff just disappeared." "I've still got a base level of numb hands and feet, my voice hasn't improved and the fatigue hasn't improved. The weight loss and the muscle wasting has, in fact, got worse. "So I still can't work because I'm so fatigued and my voice is pretty crappy." In January, B6 poisoning hit the news, with the ABC's 730 running a report featuring patients who had similar symptoms and experiences to Ms Thompson. "I recognised my story and I just went, 'oh God, that's it'," she said. "I went back through all my diaries, 10 years of diaries, with orange highlighter and calculated all the B6 and just went, 'Oh my God'." Then, armed with a print-out of an Illawarra Mercury -an ACM mastheadarticle on the issue, in which Fairy Meadow, Wollongong, GP Kate McCullough issued a warning about high doses of the vitamin, she managed to convince her doctor to run a test. She has since been diagnosed with "B6 hypervitaminosis", and in recent months registered her interest in Polaris' proposed class action, which she hopes might stop others from going through her ordeal. Already the law firm says its has received more than 900 inquiries about the class action. "I just remember at one point, my doctor said, 'oh gee, Penny, I hate to think we're missing something'," Ms Thompson said. "Of course, I'd given him all the big lists of all the supplements I was taking, but he didn't know anything about it. None of the specialists knew about it." "Despite all the media coverage this year, and repeated alerts from the TGA, most doctors and allied health professionals are still completely unaware of B6 toxicity, how serious the resulting symptoms can be and how widespread it is becoming. "I'm really hoping the class action will generate enough publicity to turn this issue around." "And I'm hoping that this kicks up so much of a stink that all of these vitamin companies and the energy drink companies and the processed food manufacturers, they all stop putting more than the recommended daily dose into their products. "I want everybody to know about it, so every doctor in Australia knows about it and we can stop the tide of this epidemic of poisoning." A Blackmores spokesperson said it had received no formal legal claim, but was aware of reports about the class action. Penny Thompson spent nearly 13 years and thousands of dollars trying to get a diagnosis for her "mystery illness", which paralysed her vocal cords, damaged her nerves and left her unable to work, socialise or study. Finally, last year, with a litany of specialists left scratching their heads, the NSW Illawarra region woman began to suspect that the very things she had been using to ease her symptoms were actually poisoning her. Now, grieving and overwhelmed by all she has lost over more than a decade, Ms Thompson, 61, of Wollongong, south of Sydney, has registered her interest in a class action against supplement giant Blackmores, as health practitioners and patients begin to realise the extent of vitamin B6 poisoning. "Before this happened, I was a bloody fitness instructor and now I struggle to work," she said. "I haven't been out socially at night for 10 years. I can't drive for more than 20 minutes. I can't go travelling, I can't go bushwalking. "I struggle to work in my garden at home and it took me nine-and-a-half years to complete a three year university degree. "I just feel overwhelmed, I get angry, I get full of grief for all I've lost." In recent months, there have been growing reports of toxicity related to vitamin B6, which is naturally found in meat, fruit and vegetables but which is also now added to many vitamin supplements, shakes and energy drinks and is present in thousands of products on the Australian market.. According to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, taking too much can cause nerve damage, which many people experience as peripheral neuropathy - or numbness and tingling in the fingers and toes. After an increase in reports about this condition, the regulator recently recommended stricter regulations and stronger warnings. It has also noted that there is no consensus on a safe level of B6. In May, Melbourne's Polaris Lawyers announced it was pursuing a class action investigation against Blackmores, on behalf of anyone who has suffered injuries after taking its supplements "containing higher than recommended levels of vitamin B6". A Blackmores spokesperson said the company was committed to the highest standards of product quality and consumer safety. "All our products, including those containing vitamin B6, are developed in strict accordance with the regulatory requirements of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)," they said. They said the company would "ensure full compliance" with any changes the regulator makes. Ms Thompson's health struggles began back in 2012, when she went to the GP complaining of numbness in her hands and feet. She had recently moved back to Australia, and was busy and tired working three jobs and buying a house, so started taking vitamin supplements "to give me energy". "I just didn't feel right and my hands and feet were a bit numb but my GP said it was my age, or probably menopause," she said. "I said, 'I've seemed to lose weight', and he just went, 'fancy a woman in her 40s complaining of losing weight, ha ha ha', so I just left it." "But I was getting more and more fatigued and so, in 2013, I started keeping a really detailed health diary because I thought maybe I had a food allergy because I thought I was being poisoned." That kicked off a "pretty expensive" 10-year journey of seeing specialists, including neurologists, ENT doctors, cardiologists, pain specialists, rheumatologists and having nerve conduction studies or tests for heavy metals poisoning. "I was always very thorough when I saw them, because I was studying science, and I was keeping these diaries and they'd always ask you on the new patient form, please list all your medications, prescription and non-prescription so I'd write this huge list of stuff down, but none of them said anything." By late 2019, when she was working as an English teacher at TAFE, she noticed her voice changing. "I was working about three days a week and I just noticed that my voice was starting to get very, very soft, very weak, very tired," she said. "It was when the drought was happening and there were lots of bushfires, smoke and dust and I thought that's what was causing it. "But that winter I'd had a doctor who said taking zinc was good for preventing respiratory disease - I wanted to choose the best and so I bought Blackmores Bio Zinc, but what I didn't realise was that it had 50mg of B6 in it." "I was popping these things every day, and I can see now that my symptoms - like headaches and migraines and gut pain and constipation were adding up, and by September my voice had become really weak and strained. "I just thought it was the dust and the bushfires and I just kept taking the B6, and then I'd lost my voice completely and had to give up work." As COVID hit, she was diagnosed with a completely paralysed left vocal cord, but was left without medical support. She began experiencing cramps, and started taking another supplement called Super Magnesium. "It also had 50 mg of B6 and, because I was getting all these migraines and I was pretty stressed because I'd lost my job and the whole COVID crap was starting, I was also taking Blackmores Executive Stress, which had another 25 milligrams of B6," Ms Thompson said. "At one stage that I was taking 125mg per day of B6, and just feeling worse and worse and worse." Years and many more appointments on, in September 2024, Ms Thompson saw a warning on the Therapeutic Goods Administration that made her suspect that her vitamins may have been poisoning her. She stopped taking them. "Magically, the gut pain, the constipation, the food intolerances all just disappeared within a couple of months," she said. "The anxiety lifted, the migraines eased off, the twitching and all that stuff just disappeared." "I've still got a base level of numb hands and feet, my voice hasn't improved and the fatigue hasn't improved. The weight loss and the muscle wasting has, in fact, got worse. "So I still can't work because I'm so fatigued and my voice is pretty crappy." In January, B6 poisoning hit the news, with the ABC's 730 running a report featuring patients who had similar symptoms and experiences to Ms Thompson. "I recognised my story and I just went, 'oh God, that's it'," she said. "I went back through all my diaries, 10 years of diaries, with orange highlighter and calculated all the B6 and just went, 'Oh my God'." Then, armed with a print-out of an Illawarra Mercury -an ACM mastheadarticle on the issue, in which Fairy Meadow, Wollongong, GP Kate McCullough issued a warning about high doses of the vitamin, she managed to convince her doctor to run a test. She has since been diagnosed with "B6 hypervitaminosis", and in recent months registered her interest in Polaris' proposed class action, which she hopes might stop others from going through her ordeal. Already the law firm says its has received more than 900 inquiries about the class action. "I just remember at one point, my doctor said, 'oh gee, Penny, I hate to think we're missing something'," Ms Thompson said. "Of course, I'd given him all the big lists of all the supplements I was taking, but he didn't know anything about it. None of the specialists knew about it." "Despite all the media coverage this year, and repeated alerts from the TGA, most doctors and allied health professionals are still completely unaware of B6 toxicity, how serious the resulting symptoms can be and how widespread it is becoming. "I'm really hoping the class action will generate enough publicity to turn this issue around." "And I'm hoping that this kicks up so much of a stink that all of these vitamin companies and the energy drink companies and the processed food manufacturers, they all stop putting more than the recommended daily dose into their products. "I want everybody to know about it, so every doctor in Australia knows about it and we can stop the tide of this epidemic of poisoning." A Blackmores spokesperson said it had received no formal legal claim, but was aware of reports about the class action. Penny Thompson spent nearly 13 years and thousands of dollars trying to get a diagnosis for her "mystery illness", which paralysed her vocal cords, damaged her nerves and left her unable to work, socialise or study. Finally, last year, with a litany of specialists left scratching their heads, the NSW Illawarra region woman began to suspect that the very things she had been using to ease her symptoms were actually poisoning her. Now, grieving and overwhelmed by all she has lost over more than a decade, Ms Thompson, 61, of Wollongong, south of Sydney, has registered her interest in a class action against supplement giant Blackmores, as health practitioners and patients begin to realise the extent of vitamin B6 poisoning. "Before this happened, I was a bloody fitness instructor and now I struggle to work," she said. "I haven't been out socially at night for 10 years. I can't drive for more than 20 minutes. I can't go travelling, I can't go bushwalking. "I struggle to work in my garden at home and it took me nine-and-a-half years to complete a three year university degree. "I just feel overwhelmed, I get angry, I get full of grief for all I've lost." In recent months, there have been growing reports of toxicity related to vitamin B6, which is naturally found in meat, fruit and vegetables but which is also now added to many vitamin supplements, shakes and energy drinks and is present in thousands of products on the Australian market.. According to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, taking too much can cause nerve damage, which many people experience as peripheral neuropathy - or numbness and tingling in the fingers and toes. After an increase in reports about this condition, the regulator recently recommended stricter regulations and stronger warnings. It has also noted that there is no consensus on a safe level of B6. In May, Melbourne's Polaris Lawyers announced it was pursuing a class action investigation against Blackmores, on behalf of anyone who has suffered injuries after taking its supplements "containing higher than recommended levels of vitamin B6". A Blackmores spokesperson said the company was committed to the highest standards of product quality and consumer safety. "All our products, including those containing vitamin B6, are developed in strict accordance with the regulatory requirements of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)," they said. They said the company would "ensure full compliance" with any changes the regulator makes. Ms Thompson's health struggles began back in 2012, when she went to the GP complaining of numbness in her hands and feet. She had recently moved back to Australia, and was busy and tired working three jobs and buying a house, so started taking vitamin supplements "to give me energy". "I just didn't feel right and my hands and feet were a bit numb but my GP said it was my age, or probably menopause," she said. "I said, 'I've seemed to lose weight', and he just went, 'fancy a woman in her 40s complaining of losing weight, ha ha ha', so I just left it." "But I was getting more and more fatigued and so, in 2013, I started keeping a really detailed health diary because I thought maybe I had a food allergy because I thought I was being poisoned." That kicked off a "pretty expensive" 10-year journey of seeing specialists, including neurologists, ENT doctors, cardiologists, pain specialists, rheumatologists and having nerve conduction studies or tests for heavy metals poisoning. "I was always very thorough when I saw them, because I was studying science, and I was keeping these diaries and they'd always ask you on the new patient form, please list all your medications, prescription and non-prescription so I'd write this huge list of stuff down, but none of them said anything." By late 2019, when she was working as an English teacher at TAFE, she noticed her voice changing. "I was working about three days a week and I just noticed that my voice was starting to get very, very soft, very weak, very tired," she said. "It was when the drought was happening and there were lots of bushfires, smoke and dust and I thought that's what was causing it. "But that winter I'd had a doctor who said taking zinc was good for preventing respiratory disease - I wanted to choose the best and so I bought Blackmores Bio Zinc, but what I didn't realise was that it had 50mg of B6 in it." "I was popping these things every day, and I can see now that my symptoms - like headaches and migraines and gut pain and constipation were adding up, and by September my voice had become really weak and strained. "I just thought it was the dust and the bushfires and I just kept taking the B6, and then I'd lost my voice completely and had to give up work." As COVID hit, she was diagnosed with a completely paralysed left vocal cord, but was left without medical support. She began experiencing cramps, and started taking another supplement called Super Magnesium. "It also had 50 mg of B6 and, because I was getting all these migraines and I was pretty stressed because I'd lost my job and the whole COVID crap was starting, I was also taking Blackmores Executive Stress, which had another 25 milligrams of B6," Ms Thompson said. "At one stage that I was taking 125mg per day of B6, and just feeling worse and worse and worse." Years and many more appointments on, in September 2024, Ms Thompson saw a warning on the Therapeutic Goods Administration that made her suspect that her vitamins may have been poisoning her. She stopped taking them. "Magically, the gut pain, the constipation, the food intolerances all just disappeared within a couple of months," she said. "The anxiety lifted, the migraines eased off, the twitching and all that stuff just disappeared." "I've still got a base level of numb hands and feet, my voice hasn't improved and the fatigue hasn't improved. The weight loss and the muscle wasting has, in fact, got worse. "So I still can't work because I'm so fatigued and my voice is pretty crappy." In January, B6 poisoning hit the news, with the ABC's 730 running a report featuring patients who had similar symptoms and experiences to Ms Thompson. "I recognised my story and I just went, 'oh God, that's it'," she said. "I went back through all my diaries, 10 years of diaries, with orange highlighter and calculated all the B6 and just went, 'Oh my God'." Then, armed with a print-out of an Illawarra Mercury -an ACM mastheadarticle on the issue, in which Fairy Meadow, Wollongong, GP Kate McCullough issued a warning about high doses of the vitamin, she managed to convince her doctor to run a test. She has since been diagnosed with "B6 hypervitaminosis", and in recent months registered her interest in Polaris' proposed class action, which she hopes might stop others from going through her ordeal. Already the law firm says its has received more than 900 inquiries about the class action. "I just remember at one point, my doctor said, 'oh gee, Penny, I hate to think we're missing something'," Ms Thompson said. "Of course, I'd given him all the big lists of all the supplements I was taking, but he didn't know anything about it. None of the specialists knew about it." "Despite all the media coverage this year, and repeated alerts from the TGA, most doctors and allied health professionals are still completely unaware of B6 toxicity, how serious the resulting symptoms can be and how widespread it is becoming. "I'm really hoping the class action will generate enough publicity to turn this issue around." "And I'm hoping that this kicks up so much of a stink that all of these vitamin companies and the energy drink companies and the processed food manufacturers, they all stop putting more than the recommended daily dose into their products. "I want everybody to know about it, so every doctor in Australia knows about it and we can stop the tide of this epidemic of poisoning." A Blackmores spokesperson said it had received no formal legal claim, but was aware of reports about the class action. Penny Thompson spent nearly 13 years and thousands of dollars trying to get a diagnosis for her "mystery illness", which paralysed her vocal cords, damaged her nerves and left her unable to work, socialise or study. Finally, last year, with a litany of specialists left scratching their heads, the NSW Illawarra region woman began to suspect that the very things she had been using to ease her symptoms were actually poisoning her. Now, grieving and overwhelmed by all she has lost over more than a decade, Ms Thompson, 61, of Wollongong, south of Sydney, has registered her interest in a class action against supplement giant Blackmores, as health practitioners and patients begin to realise the extent of vitamin B6 poisoning. "Before this happened, I was a bloody fitness instructor and now I struggle to work," she said. "I haven't been out socially at night for 10 years. I can't drive for more than 20 minutes. I can't go travelling, I can't go bushwalking. "I struggle to work in my garden at home and it took me nine-and-a-half years to complete a three year university degree. "I just feel overwhelmed, I get angry, I get full of grief for all I've lost." In recent months, there have been growing reports of toxicity related to vitamin B6, which is naturally found in meat, fruit and vegetables but which is also now added to many vitamin supplements, shakes and energy drinks and is present in thousands of products on the Australian market.. According to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, taking too much can cause nerve damage, which many people experience as peripheral neuropathy - or numbness and tingling in the fingers and toes. After an increase in reports about this condition, the regulator recently recommended stricter regulations and stronger warnings. It has also noted that there is no consensus on a safe level of B6. In May, Melbourne's Polaris Lawyers announced it was pursuing a class action investigation against Blackmores, on behalf of anyone who has suffered injuries after taking its supplements "containing higher than recommended levels of vitamin B6". A Blackmores spokesperson said the company was committed to the highest standards of product quality and consumer safety. "All our products, including those containing vitamin B6, are developed in strict accordance with the regulatory requirements of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)," they said. They said the company would "ensure full compliance" with any changes the regulator makes. Ms Thompson's health struggles began back in 2012, when she went to the GP complaining of numbness in her hands and feet. She had recently moved back to Australia, and was busy and tired working three jobs and buying a house, so started taking vitamin supplements "to give me energy". "I just didn't feel right and my hands and feet were a bit numb but my GP said it was my age, or probably menopause," she said. "I said, 'I've seemed to lose weight', and he just went, 'fancy a woman in her 40s complaining of losing weight, ha ha ha', so I just left it." "But I was getting more and more fatigued and so, in 2013, I started keeping a really detailed health diary because I thought maybe I had a food allergy because I thought I was being poisoned." That kicked off a "pretty expensive" 10-year journey of seeing specialists, including neurologists, ENT doctors, cardiologists, pain specialists, rheumatologists and having nerve conduction studies or tests for heavy metals poisoning. "I was always very thorough when I saw them, because I was studying science, and I was keeping these diaries and they'd always ask you on the new patient form, please list all your medications, prescription and non-prescription so I'd write this huge list of stuff down, but none of them said anything." By late 2019, when she was working as an English teacher at TAFE, she noticed her voice changing. "I was working about three days a week and I just noticed that my voice was starting to get very, very soft, very weak, very tired," she said. "It was when the drought was happening and there were lots of bushfires, smoke and dust and I thought that's what was causing it. "But that winter I'd had a doctor who said taking zinc was good for preventing respiratory disease - I wanted to choose the best and so I bought Blackmores Bio Zinc, but what I didn't realise was that it had 50mg of B6 in it." "I was popping these things every day, and I can see now that my symptoms - like headaches and migraines and gut pain and constipation were adding up, and by September my voice had become really weak and strained. "I just thought it was the dust and the bushfires and I just kept taking the B6, and then I'd lost my voice completely and had to give up work." As COVID hit, she was diagnosed with a completely paralysed left vocal cord, but was left without medical support. She began experiencing cramps, and started taking another supplement called Super Magnesium. "It also had 50 mg of B6 and, because I was getting all these migraines and I was pretty stressed because I'd lost my job and the whole COVID crap was starting, I was also taking Blackmores Executive Stress, which had another 25 milligrams of B6," Ms Thompson said. "At one stage that I was taking 125mg per day of B6, and just feeling worse and worse and worse." Years and many more appointments on, in September 2024, Ms Thompson saw a warning on the Therapeutic Goods Administration that made her suspect that her vitamins may have been poisoning her. She stopped taking them. "Magically, the gut pain, the constipation, the food intolerances all just disappeared within a couple of months," she said. "The anxiety lifted, the migraines eased off, the twitching and all that stuff just disappeared." "I've still got a base level of numb hands and feet, my voice hasn't improved and the fatigue hasn't improved. The weight loss and the muscle wasting has, in fact, got worse. "So I still can't work because I'm so fatigued and my voice is pretty crappy." In January, B6 poisoning hit the news, with the ABC's 730 running a report featuring patients who had similar symptoms and experiences to Ms Thompson. "I recognised my story and I just went, 'oh God, that's it'," she said. "I went back through all my diaries, 10 years of diaries, with orange highlighter and calculated all the B6 and just went, 'Oh my God'." Then, armed with a print-out of an Illawarra Mercury -an ACM mastheadarticle on the issue, in which Fairy Meadow, Wollongong, GP Kate McCullough issued a warning about high doses of the vitamin, she managed to convince her doctor to run a test. She has since been diagnosed with "B6 hypervitaminosis", and in recent months registered her interest in Polaris' proposed class action, which she hopes might stop others from going through her ordeal. Already the law firm says its has received more than 900 inquiries about the class action. "I just remember at one point, my doctor said, 'oh gee, Penny, I hate to think we're missing something'," Ms Thompson said. "Of course, I'd given him all the big lists of all the supplements I was taking, but he didn't know anything about it. None of the specialists knew about it." "Despite all the media coverage this year, and repeated alerts from the TGA, most doctors and allied health professionals are still completely unaware of B6 toxicity, how serious the resulting symptoms can be and how widespread it is becoming. "I'm really hoping the class action will generate enough publicity to turn this issue around." "And I'm hoping that this kicks up so much of a stink that all of these vitamin companies and the energy drink companies and the processed food manufacturers, they all stop putting more than the recommended daily dose into their products. "I want everybody to know about it, so every doctor in Australia knows about it and we can stop the tide of this epidemic of poisoning." A Blackmores spokesperson said it had received no formal legal claim, but was aware of reports about the class action.
