Infected blood: £1m pay out to pensioner who contracted hepatitis C from contaminated blood
A Co Londonderry pensioner who contracted hepatitis C from contaminated blood more than 50 years ago is to receive more than £1m compensation, it was announced today.
The man, who is not being named, secured the pay out in a settlement reached with the body overseeing claims by thousands of victims across the UK.
His lawyers described the outcome as “life changing”.
The 67-year-old man suffers from haemophilia - a rare condition which affects the ability of blood to clot.
During the early 1970s he received blood infected by viruses which led to him developing hepatitis C.
Thousands of others with bleeding disorders were also given contaminated transfusions.
In May last year the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) was established to deal with claims made by victims of the scandal.
Belfast-based legal firm KRW Law, who represent the man, confirmed his application has now been fully settled.
Solicitor Owen Winters disclosed that a figure of just over £1m is to be paid out to him.
“To say this sum of money is life changing is somewhat bittersweet given that our client has lived with this horrendous condition for most of his life,” Mr Winters said.
The lawyer also suggested there has been some frustration over the time taken to fully roll out the compensation scheme.
“Some of the infected are worried that they may not live long enough to see their applications through to conclusion,” he added.
“It’s hoped that the necessary resources will be made available to the scheme to both build on the important work undertaken to date and allow all other eligible infected and affected applicants to get their claims processed expeditiously.”
In July, the Infected Blood Inquiry made a series of recommendations to improve compensation for people who were both infected with contaminated blood and people affected as a result.
Responding to the report, the Government said that it was immediately accepting a number of the recommendations and would consult on others.
And the Infected Blood Compensation Authority (IBCA) announced it would accept all recommendations relating to the compensation authority.
The probe into the scandal said victims had been “harmed further” by failures in the compensation scheme.
Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the inquiry, said the number of people who have been compensated to date is “profoundly unsatisfactory” as he called for “faster and fairer” compensation for victims.
He said all victims should be able to register for compensation and should not have to wait to be called forward to start their claim.
More than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C after they were given contaminated blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s.
More than 3,000 people have died as a result, and survivors are living with lifelong health implications.
The Infected Blood Inquiry published its main report on the scandal in May last year, and a compensation scheme was announced a day later.
But in the same week a general election was called and officials from the IBCA have described how in the early days of the organisation it consisted of two men, a laptop and a phone.