Hepatitis tribunal awards man £1m

The hepatitis C tribunal has awarded almost £1 million in compensation to a haemophiliac. The award, made before Christmas, is the biggest since the tribunal was set up.

To protect the individual's privacy, no details were available about the grounds for the size of the award yesterday.

But it is understood he has suffered life-threatening and continuing side-effects after contracting hepatitis C from blood products.

The Irish Times has learned that there are two elements to the haemophiliac's compensation.

The recipient was awarded £770,000 - also the biggest to date - plus 20 per cent from the Reparation Fund in lieu of aggravated or exemplary damages.

This would bring the award to £924,000.

The scale of the latest award sets a precedent for the tribunal. What is not clear, however, is whether the nature of the recipient's illness is unique in this State.

The late Mrs Brigid McCole, in the first test case before the courts, is believed to have received £175,000. Mrs Mary Quinlan, the second test case before the High Court, settled her case for damages minutes before it was due to be heard.

Though she was bound by a confidentiality clause, she is believed to have won about £600,000. Taking legal costs into account, payments of about £1 million were made in both cases.

The Minister for Health and Children, Mr Cowen, signed an order at the end of October placing the hepatitis C compensation tribunal on a statutory footing. Those appearing before the tribunal from November 1st became automatically entitled to have 20 per cent added to their award for aggravated damages.

Introducing a supplementary estimate in the Dail in late November, Mr Cowen said the accounts showed an expenditure of £30 million less than expected this year for the hepatitis C tribunal. About £72 million had been made available to cover the costs of claims at the tribunal, but only £42 million was expected to be paid out by the end of 1997.