The High Court has allowed A.M.’s appeal against the general damages awarded for decompensated cirrhosis and its consequences, setting that compensation at €250,000. The court said it would discuss the final form of the order with counsel.
A.M. appealed a Hepatitis C Compensation Tribunal award made on 13 April 2015. The tribunal had awarded €180,000 in total, including €150,000 for general damages. Her appeal was limited to the general damages award; she was satisfied with the grounds allowing her to return to the tribunal later if required.
A.M. contracted hepatitis C after receiving an anti-D injection from an infected batch in 1977. In 1998, the tribunal made a provisional award that allowed her to return if her condition deteriorated to decompensated cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. The High Court said that award had not compensated her for the occurrence or consequences of decompensated cirrhosis.
On medical advice, A.M. began antiviral treatment in September 2013 as her liver disease progressed. The treatment cleared the virus, but the judgment said it triggered decompensation. A scan confirmed ascites, and her condition progressed to hepatic encephalopathy. The court accepted medical evidence that the encephalopathy had caused, and was likely permanently to cause, psychological and functional impairment. A.M. described losing independence, becoming forgetful and fatigued, and relying more on her husband. Her doctors hoped treatment would prevent further progression, but the condition was considered irreversible.
The Minister’s counsel argued that the antiviral treatment fell outside the conditions of the provisional award and was not compensatable. The High Court rejected that argument, finding the treatment medically necessary and inextricably bound up with the decompensated cirrhosis that entitled A.M. to return to the tribunal. It also accepted that the tribunal had been entitled to take the treatment’s consequences into account, while concluding that its general damages assessment was inadequate.
The court set €250,000 as fair and reasonable general damages for the decompensated cirrhosis and its consequences, and allowed the appeal. The judgment does not state the final total compensation figure; it records that the court would discuss the final form of the order with counsel.