Settlement in Victorian hep C lawsuit

A woman infected with hepatitis C at a Melbourne medical clinic says the settlement of a class action will end years of torment and heartache.

More than 50 women were infected at Croydon Day Surgery in 2008 and 2009 by drug-addicted anaesthetist James Latham Peters.

The women reached a $13.75 million settlement on Monday with the clinic, its director Dr Mark Schulberg and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.

One of the women, who cannot be named, says she has suffered ongoing mental health issues and a family breakdown since becoming infected.

The woman said the settlement, which still needs approval by the Victorian Supreme Court, would allow her the stability she needed to rebuild her family.

"(It means) the end of torment and heartache," she told reporters

"It's done and it's over and we can move on with our lives."

Slater and Gordon principal lawyer Julie Clayton praised the bravery and patience of the women in dealing with a major public health incident.

"It has been a nightmare for our clients. Their faith in the medical system has been seriously tested," she said.

"An out-of-court settlement will allow them to focus on the future."

Ms Clayton said there were around six women who had been infected who had not yet joined the class action.

The formal application to settle the action will be heard in the next fortnight.

The trial for a separate lawsuit, involving a woman who refused to join the class action, has been adjourned until Wednesday.

Peters was jailed in 2013 for 14 years, with a non-parole period of 10 years, after pleading guilty to 55 counts of negligently causing serious injury.

Peters injected the women with the same needles he used to give himself doses of the opiate Fentanyl while working as an anaesthetist at the abortion clinic in 2008 and 2009.

In jailing Peters, Justice Terry Forrest said he caused vulnerable women to suffer needlessly.

"The physical damage caused by your conduct and the associated emotional harm cannot adequately be described by me in words," he said.

"You breached the great trust that every patient places in his or her treating doctor."