HL Deb 01 July 1998 vol 591 cc80-1WA
Lord Morris of Manchester

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What action they will be taking to apply the High Court's ruling of 20 June on the Department of Health's liability for claims from people treated with contaminated human growth hormone as children and who now fear that they will develop Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; how many such people whose cases were not considered by the High Court are affected by the ruling; when payments can be expected by those affected and what estimate they have made of the total cost of discharging the liability. [HL2406]

The Minister of State, Department of Health (Baroness Jay of Paddington)

We accept in full the judgment of the Court in respect of compensation and damages and will arrange to make payments as soon as possible. The total cost of damages so far in this case amount to £579,000. There were 37 cases not considered by the court. We shall seek to settle these cases using the criteria established by the judge for determining the calculation of compensation. Because of the varying personal circumstances of those claiming compensation it is not possible to estimate the final cost at this time.