Stuart Norval reports on a family's fight for compensation

The families, who were seeking compensation on compassionate grounds, were excluded from a 1996 High Court decision to grant damages to other victims.

This was because they were treated before a date set by the judge.

Tessa Jowell: Refused compensation

Health Minister Tessa Jowell admitted the programme to give children human growth hormone had produced tragic results.

However, she said that the Health Department had to abide by the court ruling, which found the department was liable in those cases where treatment began or was mostly carried out after July 1977.

He ruled that scientists only became fully aware of the risks of using growth hormone from that date.

However, the programme of using growth hormone made from the pituitary glands of dead humans began in 1959 and ended in 1985.

During that time nearly 2,000 children were treated with the hormone.

The infective agent which causes CJD resides in the brain, and using human growth human in live patients ran the risk of passing on the agent.

Liberal Democrat Mark Oaten (Winchester), opening a short Commons debate, highlighted the case of Mavis and Tony Lay, whose daughter Alison died of the brain disease at the age of 22 before it became notorious when it was found it could be transmitted from cows infected with BSE.

Years of torment

Mavis Lay: It is unjust not to treat all families the same

He said Alison's parents, who live in his constituency, could not understand why they were ineligible for compensation and had faced "14 years of torment".

Mr Oaten said: "Her parents have had that particular anguish made much worse by the ongoing fight to try to achieve compensation since from the Department of Health."

He also said there was a "moral case" for compensation.

"I ask the minister to remember the human suffering and the injustice that has taken place and to try to resolve this issue speedily by compensating the five families and the cost to the Department of Health is not significant."

Ms Jowell said she was "sorry that their lives should be blighted".

But she added: "It is Government policy, as it was the previous government's, that compensation will be paid only when negligence has been proved."

She said that if the Government was to accept arguments in favour of "no fault" compensation, the result would be expensive and have "ramifications beyond the NHS".

Alison's mother Mavis said: "Alison was four feet six when she finished her treatment.

"She did have a lot of problems with people making fun of her at school, and with getting into pubs and clubs.

"The treatment was very important to her, but the medication that was helping her to grow killed her."

Mrs Lay said her family would not give up the fight for compensation.