'Forgotten victims' hear tainted blood settlement details

Canadians who contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood but were excluded from earlier compensation learned the details of a settlement package on Friday.

The $1-billion plan, announced in July, covers about 6,000 Canadians who developedthe incurableand debilitating liver diseasefrom transfusions of tainted blood before 1986 or after 1990. Theywere not eligible for a package offered by the federal and provincial governments in 1998.

"This step marks a milestone in our commitment to get money into the hands of those infected, prior to 1986 and after July 1, 1990, as quickly as possible," Health Minister Tony Clement said.

Courts in various provinces still have to approve the package before funds are disbursed.

The amount of money paid to each victim will depend on the severity of their illness and how much income they lost due to health problems. Payment estimatesrange from $30,000 to $250,000.

The government said it has set aside $1.023 billion forthe class action's settlement, which includes $962 millionin compensation.

The final agreement is before the courts in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec for review. Pending approval, the cheques could be sent out in the summer, said Mark Freeman, one of the lawyers involved in the suit in Calgary.

The people who are the sickest will receive the most compensation, Freeman said. Individual payments are based on age, health status and probability of the disease progressing. Family members of victims who have died are included in the settlement.

Wants government acknowledgment

Brenda Assailly, a tainted-blood victim in Calgary who was infected 28 years ago, said she welcomes the money, but the acknowledgment by the government is also important.

The stigma of hepatitis C can be cruel, and the earlier settlement that excluded her played with her self-esteem and made her feel like a second- class citizen, Assailly told a news conference.

"The stigma that goes behind the hepatitis C virus can be quite cruel. It makes you feel like you're just not a whole person."

She said her life has changed since she was infected. For instance,shenow abstainsfrom alcohol to protect her liver. However, she said, other victims may not know that they are infected and continue to take risks.

The victims haven't had a chance to calculate their damages yet, Freeman said.

'Forgotten victims'

The self-described "forgotten victims" have been lobbying for compensation for more than a decade, launching class-action suits in the four provinces.

Under the 1998 package, only Canadians who contracted hepatitis C from tainted blood between 1986and 1990 were eligible for compensation. During that period, the federal government knew there was a test that could have screened donated blood for diseases, but it did not adopt it.

The screening test was adopted after 1990.

In a report from a public inquiry into the tainted-blood scandal, Ontario Court of Appeal Justice Horace Krever said all the victims of bad blood should be treated equally.