A proposed $50 million class-action lawsuit has been filed against a Burlington, Ont. hospital by the families of those who died in a C. difficile outbreak.

In total, 91 patients at Joseph Brant Memorial who were infected with C. difficile died in a 20-month period between May 2006 and November 2007.

Experts have said that in 62 of the deaths, C. difficile caused or played a clear role, and contributed to 14 others.

Stanley Tick, a Hamilton lawyer who is helping bring the suit forward, told CTV Newsnet he believes the class action is the first of its kind in Canada.

"It's different (due to the number) of people who have been affected by it and their families and the period of time over which the C. difficile was allowed to pollinate through the hospital ... during which period of time it seems the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital didn't recognize there was an outbreak of C. difficile," Tick said.

The lawsuit was filed on Wednesday. It alleges that the outbreak was preventable and the hospital's cleaning, maintenance and disinfection practices were deficient.

Tick was a lead counsel in the Walkerton, Ont. tainted water suit. Another lawyer on the class action, Harvey Strosberg, represented a group that received a $1.1 billion settlement from Ottawa for their hepatitis C class action.

The allegations made in the C. difficile suit have not been proven in court and the suit will have to be certified by a judge before it can go forward.

"It could take any length of time," Tick said. "It would take a crystal ball to determine what the exact time would be. We would like it to move quickly because of the angst of all our clients and the class action in general."