The company declined to explain how its insurance system worked

The company declined to explain how its insurance system worked. Russell Levy, partner at Leigh, Day & Co, the law firm involved in the US tobacco settlements, said: "The purpose of punitive damages is to prevent a company behaving in the same way again by making the cost of doing so too high. It has made provisions of pounds 15m so far but says any excess costs from the case would be covered by professional indemnity insurance.However, that insurance provision is placed within SB itself and not with a third-party insurer. SB has not answered our interrogatories yet."Under Californian state law the maximum damages payout per person for medical negligence is $250,000 (pounds 156,000). Awards would be based on estimates of the degree of emotional distress. In addition, SB could face claims for lost earnings and the cost of treatment from plaintiffs held to have contracted illnesses as a result of the reused needles.The most sizeable, though least likely, financial blow would be a claim for punitive damages But judges would have to rule SB was acting deliberately.

You must remember that most of these people spend their lives trying to avoid contracting these diseases They were mortified. Linda Hawkins, the wife of Charlie Hawkins, owner of Hawkins Blick, is the lead plaintiff.Mr Hawkins said yesterday: "We are claiming only for the emotional distress caused by discovering that one has been placed at risk. It is thought at least 10 people were found to have hepatitis and one HIV.Two per cent of the US population generally develop hepatitis, which would suggest that around 300 of the affected population could claim they contracted hepatitis as a result of Ms Giorgi's neglect.The first case is expected to be filed within two weeks by three firms, including Hawkins Blick, representing around 4,000 plaintiffs. She was dismissed in March.Only 5,000 have been tested, and of those the incidence of hepatitis A, B, and C and HIV, the virus that can lead to Aids, has been lower than exists in the population at large. If all these patients joined a class action, the group could face a potential liability of around pounds 2.5bn. As the pounds 45bn company yesterday celebrated its 10th anniversary, it confirmed that it had spent pounds 10m tracing and testing the 15,300 patients thought to have been put at risk by Elaine Giorgi's actions at a clinic in Palo Alto, California and several others in the surrounding area. Up to 15,300 patients may have been inadvertently exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C or HIV.

SMITHKLINE BEECHAM, the British pharmaceuticals company, is being sued in the United States after one of its employees was found to have reused disposable needles when taking blood samples. Those who demand the decommissioning of IRA weapons lend themselves in the current political context, inadvertently or otherwise, to the failed agenda which seeks the defeat of the IRA."The British Government have the power to change that context and should do so."It remains our view that the roots of conflict in our country lie in British involvement in Irish affairs."Responsibility for repairing the damage to the argument that the present political process can deliver real change rests primarily with the British Government.". They have once again demonstrated a lack of political will to confront the Unionist veto."Over the past five years we have called and maintained two prolonged cessations of military operations to enhance the peace process and underline our definitive commitment to its success."We contributed in a meaningful way to the creation of a climate, which could facilitate the search for a durable settlement."The first of these cessations floundered on the demand by the Conservative government for an IRA surrender. It is clearly their intention to continue their obstructionist tactics indefinitely."There is irrefutable evidence that the Unionist political leadership remains at this time opposed to a democratic peace settlement."Recent events at Stormont cannot obscure the fact that the primary responsibility for the developing political crisis rests squarely with the British Government. "This culminated in the failure last week to establish the political institutions set out in the Good Friday Agreement. "The agreement has failed to deliver tangible process and its potential for doing so has substantially diminished in recent months."The credibility and motivation of Unionist leaders who signed up to the agreement is clearly open to question."They have repeatedly reneged on the commitments they made in signing the agreement and successfully blocked the implementation of its institutional aspects. "THE ARGUMENT that the present political process can deliver real and meaningful change has been significantly undermined by the course of events over the past 15 months. The location of his body was identified by the IRA as part of the moves towards peace.Also, the tribunal team heading the new inquiry into Bloody Sunday yesterday admitted that a document naming soldiers involved was released by mistake.

Gerald Howarth, the Tory MP for Aldershot, the town where The Parachute Regiment, is based, said that the inquiry had "lost all credibility".. Eamon Molloy was the first of the "disappeared" to be buried. Accusing Mr Trimble and his Ulster Unionist Party colleagues of being "in default of the agreement", Mr Doherty said: "We remain entirely sceptical about their intention to ever implement the agreement and bring about a devolution of power."There was a grim reminder of The Troubles yesterday with the funeral in Belfast of a Catholic man murdered by the IRA 24 years ago. But that could be upset by the IRA statement.After lengthy talks with Senator Mitchell, Pat Doherty, Sinn Fein vice- president, said republicans were growing sceptical about Unionist intentions towards the agreement and warned that the review must not be used to force further delays. He said there was a clear threat of a return to violence if the IRA did not get what it wanted."It demonstrates that the IRA are not committed to a permanent end to violence and are not totally committed to exclusively peaceful means," he said."It is not a matter of whether they are going to decommission, it is whether they are going to start their campaign again." Mr Robinson's party is opposed to the Good Friday Agreement and earlier he criticised the Unionists for engaging in the review of the stalled peace process under Senator Mitchell.The US senator found the two sides as deadlocked as ever in talks in Belfast as he embarked on the review at the request of the Dublin and London governments.Mr Blair today was expected to lay the ground for Senator Mitchell by discussing Mr Adams's plan for "sequencing" - allowing both sides to `jump together" - to achieve decommissioning of IRA weapons in parallel with the start of power-sharing.

The statement was also intended to underline the need for urgency by the former US Senator George Mitchell, in reaching a breakthrough in the peace process. Peter Robinson, the deputy leader of Ian Paisley's Democratic Unionist Party, accused the IRA of attempting to "put a gun to the Prime Minister's head" to gain more concessions. all of them refer to Michael Ashcroft and to his business interests."I have no reason at all to believe that they are forgeries: they are taken from the files of the US investigation, intelligence and enforcement agencies and they make disturbing reading.". THE IRA warning to the Government against accepting the Unionist veto was clearly intended to put pressure on Tony Blair, in advance of his talks today at Downing Street with David Trimble, the Unionist leader, and Gerry Adams, the Sinn Fein president. Mr Bradley said, before raising the new allegations: "To be caught up in one drugs investigation may just be a matter of bad luck - a big man in a small place at the wrong time But there is more I have seen documents, documents also seen by The Times ... His is the party that says that sleaze is a thing of the past but is running its campaign in Eddisbury on money from Belize, which tomorrow will ask the people of Eddisbury to place their trust in it."Does the Leader of the Opposition want it said that Michael Ashcroft is the man who defines the Conservative Party?" The saga was a "real test" of Mr Hague's leadership qualities and "he has a big decision to make".Mr Ashcroft - who, Mr Bradley claimed, was motivated by "the ruthless pursuit of his bottom line" rather than political convictions - has said he was aware of one investigation by the DEA.He said he believed it had concluded in 1992 and the principal interest was Belize rather than him. I do not claim that Michael Ashcroft is guilty of any offence.