17 June 2016 - Beatrice Tarnawski was walking down bustling Queen Street Mall when the flicker of a shadow on the pavement induced a vertigo attack.

Her world started spinning and she took refuge against the window of a fashion store, covering her face as she crouched.

No-one helped. Ms Tarnawski suspects people thought she was drunk.

The Gap resident said it was a common reaction to the debilitating attacks that resulted from Meniere’s disease – a condition that causes hearing loss, imbalance, tinnitus, dizziness, anxiety and drop attacks (a sudden, spontaneous fall).

It also forced Ms Tarnawski into early retirement, and the former project manager estimated she had spent $30,000 on medication since her 2007 diagnosis.

She has launched a petition to have three drugs used to treat Meniere’s disease – Betahistine (Serc), ondansetron and valaciclovir – added to the PBS.

For more details, go to: http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/southwest/call-for-vital-menieres-disease-medication-to-be-added-to-the-pbs/news-story/58b3671d0eba5b88968e9b7ab826e8a1