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Fri 06 Jun 2004Post-polio sufferers denied medical benefitsSufferers of a debilitating illness caused by the late effects of polio were being denied medical cards and inclusion on the long-term illness scheme, an Oireachtas committee was told yesterday.The illness, Late Effects of Polio (LEP), was causing severe financial hardship to sufferers who received no financial assistance from the State, with 80 percent being refused a medical card, the Joint Committee on Health and Children heard.