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HIV compensation claims reach UK
12/09/2007
Haemophiliacs in Britain and Northern Ireland who were infected with HIV during the 1970s and 80s, due to transfusions with contaminated blood, have won the right to fight for compensation in the British courts.
Eight people, including Haydn and Gaynor Lewis, have been unsuccessfully trying to fight for medical negligence compensation in the US, as the Factor VIII and Factor IX blood products came from American companies.
Mr Lewis, from Cardiff, contracted HIV in 1985, through a transfusion and then passed it onto his wife.
He now hopes that being allowed to fight their case in Britain will mean the Department of Health (DoH) will become involved.
"It's down to the pharmaceutical companies to call them to be co-defendants. I would hope they would do the decent thing," said Mr Lewis. "They've been [saying] that they are sympathetic and open and transparent, so if they’ve got nothing to hide, maybe they should just provide the information...and speed the whole process up."
However the couple had already received a clinical negligence compensation settlement in 1991, along with other victims, who received between £21,000 and £80,000.
Lawrence Veck, solicitor for Mr and Mrs Lewis, said: "There is a strong feeling that the [1991] compensation was under-settled. The medical science the settlements were based on was clearly out of date. A lot of victims thought they had only a handful of years to live and many had not been given a hepatitis diagnosis at the time."
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Eight people, including Haydn and Gaynor Lewis, have been unsuccessfully trying to fight for medical negligence compensation in the US, as the Factor VIII and Factor IX blood products came from American companies.
Mr Lewis, from Cardiff, contracted HIV in 1985, through a transfusion and then passed it onto his wife.
He now hopes that being allowed to fight their case in Britain will mean the Department of Health (DoH) will become involved.
"It's down to the pharmaceutical companies to call them to be co-defendants. I would hope they would do the decent thing," said Mr Lewis. "They've been [saying] that they are sympathetic and open and transparent, so if they’ve got nothing to hide, maybe they should just provide the information...and speed the whole process up."
However the couple had already received a clinical negligence compensation settlement in 1991, along with other victims, who received between £21,000 and £80,000.
Lawrence Veck, solicitor for Mr and Mrs Lewis, said: "There is a strong feeling that the [1991] compensation was under-settled. The medical science the settlements were based on was clearly out of date. A lot of victims thought they had only a handful of years to live and many had not been given a hepatitis diagnosis at the time."
Contact us for legal advice
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