GOVERNMENT PROMISES ASSISTANCE TO FAMILIES OF DEAD KIDNEY PATIENTS

ZAGREB, Nov 19 (Hina) - The Croatian government will provide legal assistance to families of kidney patients who died during or immediately after dialysis, and appoint a person in charge of direct contact with them, the government said in a statement issued Monday. At Monday's meeting, family of the deceased patients with vice- premiers Goran Granic and Zeljka Antunovic, Justice Minister Ingrid Anticevic Marinovic and Deputy Health Minister Ranko Ostojic agreed that the government would hire an attorney to provide legal advice so the families could more easily choose lawyers and decide whether to proceed before American courts. The son of one of the patients who dies, Radoslav Dejanovic, said after the meeting the government members had expressed readiness for the government and Croatia's pharmaceutical company Pliva to assume responsibility for the deaths if their responsibility is established during the course of the ongoing investigation. The American company "Baxter" which produced the allegedly faulty dialysers is offering a settlement, but has still not offered concrete amounts, Dejanovic said. He believes the amount could be significantly lower than compensation Baxter would have to pay hould American courts judge in favour of the plaintiffs. "We should ask lawyers about concrete amounts, but the total amount could be as mush as to render the company bankrupt," Dejanovic stressed. He added that the families will discuss within the next several days whether to file individual or group charges before US courts. (hina) lml