'$10m deal' to settle bad blood fiasco

National and international evidence that the Government could not deny prompted it to agree to a multi-million-dollar deal to resolve the bad blood scandal, the Haemophilia Foundation says.

The agreement, believed to be worth about $10 million, is understood to include an acknowledgement of suffering and statement of regret from Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Once approved by Cabinet the treatment and welfare package would be offered to all New Zealanders with haemophilia who contracted hepatitis C from products containing infected blood products.

But a ministry spokesman yesterday would not confirm the deal, saying little more than that the foundation's claim was being considered.

The foundation denies reports that the deal was reached after it threatened a leaflet drop to thousands of voters before last year's election.

Foundation member Steve Waring, who is involved in the negotiations, said the agreement was the result of many submissions and the collating of national and international evidence.

"The weight of national and international evidence made the Government realise that more could have been done. That's the reality of it," he said. "The Government were presented with facts they couldn't deny."

The announcement of the agreement is the latest development in a long-running saga which included the 1992 revelation that about 700 people - 172 of them people with haemophilia - had been infected with hepatitis C from contaminated blood products from the 1980s until 1992.

Screening for hepatitis C of donated blood started in New Zealand in 1992, two years after tests became available. Also, super-heat treating of all blood products to kill the virus did not start until about that time.

The foundation that said a ministerial settlement had been offered to people with haemophilia and hepatitis C in 2000, but strict criteria meant that only three people were able to prove their eligibility.

The new package would be recommended to Parliament and, once approved by Cabinet, would be offered to all New Zealanders with haemophilia who contracted hepatitis C from products containing infected blood products.

It was thought the relevant mechanisms would be in place by the end of October, the foundation said.

The agreement was finalised between the ministry, Crown Law and the foundation, after submissions and negotiations last year and this year.

The package included financial compensation at the level offered by ACC in 1992 before lump sums were abolished. The maximum amount offered at that time was $27,000. Compensation payments would be calculated on that basis, and interest and inflation would be taken into account.

There would also be enhanced access to hepatitis C treatment for all people who contracted the disease from blood or blood products, establishment of a one-stop shop at ACC for processing and managing the claims, and payments towards individual legal costs.

Foundation president Dave McCone said New Zealanders with medical needs should not have to beg for access to best-practice care.

"No amount of compensation can fully make up for the personal injury many of our members have suffered, but we believe that the treatment and welfare package is broad enough to address at least the most urgent needs of people living each day with two chronic, lifelong, debilitating illnesses."

Health Ministry spokesman Peter Abernethy would only say the ministry was considering the foundation's claim and was working with the Crown Law Office on the matter. The ministry would provide an update on the process to the foundation by June.

- STAFF REPORTERS, NZPA