Letter: Making the end of a life a little easier

Sir: I read with interest your articles on 16 and 17 August with regard to the negligence over human growth hormone that was given up to 1985.

I am a mother with a child who was given this hormone, and I feel that, despite what David Harper-Jones says (Letters, 17 August), we should be given compensation not only for medical help if and when the person develops the disease, but for the practical things in life - eg, mortgages, life insurance - and, last but not least, for the mental anguish that it causes, to parents and patients, and also for potential anguish. I know you cannot compensate for a loss of life, but how about making that life a little easier at the end?

If David Harper-Jones had joined the Child Growth Foundation, not only would all of his questions have been answered, but by helping with fund-raising, research projects could be funded.

Seeking damages from the Government and getting it to admit to its mistakes in the past: surely, that may help to eliminate mistakes in the future?

Yours faithfully,

SUE DAVIES

Cheltenham,

Gloucestershire

17 August