Infectious claimsPRECEDENT: floodgates may open after hepatitis C decisionA landmark decision in the High Court this week awarding compensation to hepatitis C sufferers who contracted the illness through infected blood transfusions could open...A landmark decision in the High Court this week awarding compensation to hepatitis C sufferers who contracted the illness through infected blood transfusions could open the doors to similar claims for victims of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or the measles mumps rubella (MMR) vaccine.The compensation was awarded to six test cases, out of a group action of 114 people infected between 1988 and 1991 and is estimated to reach 6-7 million.

The NHS began blood screening in 1991.The hearing represented the first time that the Consumer Protection Act 1987 had been used in relation to medical products in the UK.

It was also the first time that the Act had been extensively judicially reviewed.

The Act implements the EU Product Liability Directive of 1985, imposing liability on producers of goods which are not as safe as the public are entitled to expect.Anthony Mallen of Deas Mallen solicitors in Newcastle, who led the group litigation, said it was undoubtedly a landmark case.

This case shows that the EU directive has significantly strengthened product liability law in the UK, he said.

Producers are not liable for risks which are genuinely unknown to exist, but as soon as the possibly dangerous nature of the product has been discovered, they will be liable if they continue to supply dangerous products.Mr Mallen added that the decision should help a lot of people in bringing claims against medical authorities, for example, recipients of the MMR vaccine who are able to prove that they were infected by defective medical products after 1988.Victoria MacCallum