Died of hepatitis C after transfusion: one million euros in compensation to family members

L’Piedmont and Regina Margherita hospital in Messina was condemned to compensation for damages for one severe liver disease evolved following a surgery. This historic decision recognized the right to compensation for heirs of a victim of medical malpractice, opening new perspectives in the field of health justice. The patientduring his stay at the hospital, he underwent surgery right hemicolectomy and received one blood transfusioncontracting the HCV virus, which later evolved into liver cirrhosis.

Despite the previous unfavorable decisions of the Court of Palermo and of Court of Appealconsidering the right to compensation to be prescribed, the Court of Cassation he overturned such sentences, recognizing the non-prescription of the right to compensation for damages. According to the Court of Cassation, in the presence of long-latent damages such as the one in question, the statute of limitations does not start from the moment of the harmful event, but from the moment the pathology manifests itself, connected to an illicit act which bears responsibility. In the case of the patient, the clinical symptoms ofHCV infection they only manifested themselves approximately twenty years after hospitalization, with a progressive worsening of the pathology which led to death.

After the recognition of the compensation provided by law for i subjects affected by infected blood (Law 210/1992), the injured party and subsequently his heirs fought with determination to obtain justice against the Ministry of Health and the Sicilian hospital. The Associati Maior – Legal and Medical Practice firm, made up of lawyers Michele Francesco Sorrentino, Pierlorenzo Catalano e Filippo Castaldotogether with the medico-legal doctor. Marcello Lorello and to the Carrara law firm, of the lawyer. Francescopaolo Carrararepresented the interests of the victim’s family with commitment and dedication, obtaining compensation of over one million euros.

Not only this sentence brings justice to the victim and his familybut it also represents a important precedent for the protection of patients’ rights and for accountability of healthcare facilities in ensuring safe treatment that complies with the highest medical standards.