Families who suffered may be paid £100,000
By George Jones, Political Editor
URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=003707073259657&rtmo=pIlIUQ1e&atmo=gggggg3K&pg=/et/00/10/27/nbse127.html
PAYMENTS of at least £100,000 could be made to families with a victim of variant CJD under a compensation package announced in the Commons yesterday by Nick Brown, the Agriculture Minister.
A new national fund for the victims is being established by the Government. It will provide compensation and help with medical care from the New Year. Mr Brown promised MPs that it would provide "appropriate support for those who are suffering from vCJD, for those who care for them and for the families of those who have already died".
Officials said no details were available on the size of likely compensation payments, as Ministers planned to have discussions with the families of the victims about how it should operate. Mr Brown told MPs the Government's preferred option was to establish a special trust fund "which could amount to millions of pounds".
His remarks were an acknowledgement that the eventual cost could be high, probably running into tens of millions, particularly if the "worst case" scenario of up to 134,000 vCJD victims materialised. The new care fund is likely to be set up on similar lines to an existing scheme to compensate and care for 1,240 haemophiliacs who were infected with Aids by contaminated blood products.
They received an initial lump sum of £20,000. An additional payment of £43,000 went to a single man with no dependants, £52,000 to a married man with no dependent children and £80,000 for an adult with dependent children. Those under 18 received £41,000. A hardship fund was also established for the haemophiliac Aids sufferers. This was able to make payments of up to £600 a week.
The Government intends to make an initial downpayment of £1 million into the care fund for vCJD victims next week, when discussions will be held with the families and their representatives. A major element of the compensation package will be the provision of care and equipment for vCJD sufferers.
A network of experts will be available to support doctors and social services caring for patients. These will include architects and engineers who can modify homes.
Mr Brown paid tribute to the "dignified and constructive" way the families of vCJD victims had campaigned for improved treatment for those who might yet be affected "by this dreadful disease".
The Phillips Report stressed that the victims of vCJD, particularly young people, and their families had special needs and said there were "widely varying standards" of care around the country. Improvements in care it highlighted were:
As speedy as possible a diagnosis of vCJD;