Judge awards woman extra €70k for hepatitis C infection

A High Court judge has increased by €70,000 a compensation award made to a woman who was infected with hepatitis C through the blood product Anti-D.

Mr Justice Bernard Barton increased an award from €180,000 to €250,000 made by the Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal for the woman who developed “life-destroying” side-effects, including cirrhosis of her liver and a brain injury, after undergoing treatment two years ago to deal with her infection.

The woman, who cannot be identified by order of the court, was in 1977 given an Anti-D injection which came from a batch infected with hepatitis C.