Landmark Hep C ruling due today

HEPATITIS C victims will today learn the outcome of a legal challenge that could leave the State open to fresh multi-million euro compensation claims.

The Supreme Court is due to rule this morning on whether victims can accept an award from the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal and later appeal the amount to the High Court.

The challenge, a test case backed by the Irish Haemophilia Society (IHS), relates to a man who contracted hepatitis C from infected blood products and who was awarded £125,000 (159,000) by the compensation tribunal in late 1997.