No-fault compensation for transfusion-associated hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and HIV infection: Italian law and the Tuscan experience

BACKGROUND: On February 25, 1992, in Italy, a law (Number 210; referred to as 210/1992) was promulgated providing economic indemnity for persons infected with hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and HIV via transfusion or the administration of hemoderivatives. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: The requests for compensation presented in the central Italian region of Tuscany from the time of the law's promulgation through December 31, 1996, were analyzed. These requests are surveyed by medical commissions in the regional military hospitals, which must compile a report of the completed assessments, formulate a decision concerning verified illnesses, and express an opinion on the existence of a relationship of causality between the damaging event and the impairment or death of the subjects. RESULTS: Out of 428 requests for indemnity, 372 have been granted and 56 denied. Posttransfusion infections (286 cases) were clearly more prevalent than those due to hemoderivatives (141 cases). Cases of hepatitis, particularly type C, constitute the great majority of the infections for which indemnity was sought, while cases of HIV infection are scarce and in sharp decrease in the data from 1995 and 1996. CONCLUSIONS: Italian Law 210/1992 has been recognized as providing a benefit to persons infected medically, but its efficiency is greatly obstructed by a lack of documentation regarding transfusions performed in the past.