Medical negligence news

Transfusion victim fights for pay-out

Michelmores' clinical negligence team provide details of this article in the Leicester Mercury - see below.

A man who caught Hepatitis C from a blood transfusion is fighting the Government for more compensation.

David Bailey, 63, from Barwell, developed severe liver damage and had to have a transplant after receiving tainted blood through NHS treatment in the 1980s.

MPs are now fighting for more compensation for David and the 5,000 haemophiliacs like him who also contracted Hepatitis C in the tragedy, dubbed "Britain's biggest blood disaster" by campaigners.

David said: "Our lives have been totally ruined in that most of us have had to finish work and most are very ill."

Until he was 22, David suffered bleeds in his joints and internal organs, spending months in hospital.

Then, new blood products developed in the 1970s and 1980s enabled clotting factors to be administered by injection.

David, 63, who was head of a council computer section, said they stopped bleeds and reduced the need for time off work.

But the blood used was not screened for infections and many people became ill.

David was one of many who caught hepatitis C through the treatment.

He was subsequently given a liver transplant due to damage caused by the illness, but the untreatable form of Hepatitis C remains in his system.

Now, it is rapidly destroying the donor liver as well.

David, who played on the England bowling team despite his illness, is supporting the Haemophilia Alliance\'s campaign for compensation.

In 1991, victims were given payments averaging £20,000 for those who contracted Hepatitis C, with an additional £25,000 for those, like David, who had a transplant.

But people in other countries received much more and campaigners want parity with Ireland, which gave 750,000 euros - or £657,000.

The campaign resulted in an Early Day Motion being submitted in Parliament on Friday. This calls for adoption of the ContaminatedBlood Bill, which seeks compensation.

David Tredinnick, MP for Bosworth, is backing the campaign and said: "Fair compensation for the victims must be provided by the Government. There has never been a Government-backed public inquiry to ensure lessons are learned and victims are properly supported."

The Early Day Motion gets its next reading on February 26.

Created: 16/02/2010
Categories: Blood products