HIV and hep C settlements may cost €2.23bn

THE STATE’S bill for compensating people who contracted HIV or hepatitis C from the contamination of blood products could ultimately cost €2.23 billion, according to official estimates.

The Department of Health’s submission to the Government’s recent comprehensive review of expenditure states that the total cost of the hepatitis C and HIV compensation tribunal from 1996 to the end of last June came to just over €1 billion. This includes payments to more than 3,000 claimants, legal fees and administrative costs. More than €711 million in awards has been made to claimants.

Legal costs relating to tribunal awards stood at just over €140 million at the end of June.

Fees of members of the tribunal including the chairman’s salary came to €11.3 million. However, the submission says “an actuarial study commissioned by the tribunal suggests that based on current award patterns, the tribunal will cost an additional €776 million – €1.23 billion on current trends and it is estimated that the tribunal will eventually cost between €1.76 – €2.23 billion”.

The tribunal was set up by the government in 1995 to compensate, among others, people infected with hepatitis C as a result of the use of human immunoglobulin anti-D antibodies or as a result of the receipt of a blood transfusion or blood product within the Republic.

In addition, the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal Amendment Act 2002 makes provision to compensate, among others, people infected with HIV as a result of the receipt of a relevant blood product within the State.

Although the tribunal has been in place for 15 years, it is expected to continue in operation for many years to come. The submission says there are 914 applications pending. Most of these “relate to non-infected next of kin claiming compensation for restriction to their life chances due to the need to care for hepatitis C-infected relatives”.

“Although the initial applications for these claims have been made, in the absence of legal deadlines for the submission of supporting information in respect of the claims, they may take a number of years to process,” it says.