Eight kidney patients have brought a northwest China hospital to court, demanding a total of 800,000 yuan (US$118,123) in compensation for their hepatitis infection allegedly contracted during the hospital's treatment.

One patient died in March from kidney failure, the Lanzhou Morning Post reported.

The Baiyin District People's Court in Gansu Province's Lanzhou City heard the case.

The patients told the court that they underwent dialysis, a routine treatment for uremia, from March 2007 to January 2009 at the Baiyin No.1 People's Hospital.

After learning about a hepatitis C infection scandal at a Shanxi Province hospital, they confirmed through tests in 2009 that they had the infection that could end up in liver cancer.

They said they had only ever undergone dialysis at the hospital, and said its repeated use of medical equipment posed a higher risk of hepatitis. They demanded the hospital pay 100,000 yuan in compensation to each.

But the hospital rebuffed the patients' accusations.