Milk powder contaminated with melamine in China has killed six children and sickened nearly 300,000 children.  Now, those families are being offered pitifully small payouts from dairies to compensate for their children’s pain and suffering.

The affected Chinese families have rejected the compensation and are attempting to sue for a greater settlement.

Although the payouts total 1.1 billion yuan (US$160 million) for the melamine contamination, they are sickeningly low per child. A child who suffered kidney stones would get only 2,000 yuan ($290). Sicker children would get a higher compensation of 30,000 yuan ($4,380), and the death of a child would be compensated with $29,000.  Tian Xiaowei, an apple farmer and part-time truck driver, whose one-year-old child died from drinking melamine-tainted milk powder, explains is disgust:

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