Chinese dairies to compensate sickened babies

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Chinese dairies to compensate sickened babies

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN – 28 minutes ago

BEIJING (AP) — Lawyers for the families of Chinese children sickened by tainted milk said Tuesday they are advising their clients to reject a government compensation package, saying the amount offered for families of victims is too low.

State media on Tuesday reported dairies whose tainted milk products killed at least six children and sickened nearly 300,000 others will likely pay 1.1 billion yuan ($160 million) in compensation to victims' families.

Details of the compensation plan came shortly after trials began for 17 people on charges related to the production and sale of melamine, an industrial chemical added to milk to falsely boost protein readings in quality tests.

According to the China Daily, the 22 companies blamed in the scandal will make a one-time 900 million yuan ($131 million) cash payment to victims.

The remaining 200 million yuan ($29 million) would cover bills for lingering health problems, the paper said, citing an unnamed source from the China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Children who suffered kidney stones would get 2,000 yuan ($290), while sicker children would be paid 30,000 yuan ($4,380) and families of those who died would each receive 200,000 yuan ($29,000), China Daily said.

Beijing attorney Xu Zhiyong, part of a legal team representing 63 families, said parents who had received copies of the compensation agreement considered the offer of 2,000 yuan to be woefully inadequate.

"I advised them not to sign it for the time being, as we would demand trials of those 22 dairy companies," Xu told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Xu called the government offer a "step in the right direction," but said parents felt their concerns had been ignored.

"The compensation is too low and no victims were involved in the decision making process, which are the main reasons for their anger," said Xu, whose attempts to sue the companies involved have so far been rejected by the courts.

At least six babies died and 294,000 other children suffered kidney and urinary problems from drinking the baby formula made from the contaminated milk.

The compensation plan — which was originally announced Saturday — and the trials of those blamed for the contamination appear to signal that authorities hope to end what was widely seen as a national disgrace highlighting widespread problems with food safety and corporate and governmental malfeasance.

At least four of the suspects on trial could be given the death penalty, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The status of the trials were not known, and Xinhua said verdicts would be announced on an unspecified "selected date."

The four — who went on trial Monday — face charges of endangering public safety for allegedly producing 200 tons of a mixture of melamine and malt dextrin, a food additive made from starch, that they marketed to milk producers, according to state media reports.

Between November 2007 and August 2008, they sold 110 tons to milk producers — including Sanlu Group Co., the dairy at the heart of the scandal — for a total of 1.23 million yuan ($180,000), the reports said.

Xinhua said five others who went on trial Monday are charged with producing and selling toxic food, but did not give other details.

Another two suspects, brothers Geng Jinping and Geng Jinzhu, went on trial on Tuesday on the same toxic food charge, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The two, arrested in September soon after the scandal broke, are accused of adding 957 pounds (434 kilograms) of melamine-based additive to 1,000 tons (900,000 kilograms) of raw milk that they then sold to major diaries, including Sanlu, CCTV said.

The discovery of melamine in dairy exports such as chocolate and yogurt triggered a slew of product recalls overseas.

The first trials in the case began on Friday for six men, also charged with making and selling melamine.

Trials were being held in the northern city of Shijiazhuang, where Sanlu is headquartered, along with three other cities in surrounding Hebei province.

Sanlu's chairwoman and general manager, Tian Wenhua, is scheduled to go before a Shijiazhuang court Wednesday, charged with producing and selling shoddy products.

Associated Press researchers Yu Bing and Zhao Liang contributed to this report.

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