The deadline for breast cancer patients who want to take part in a $5.4-million class action lawsuit against a dozen Quebec hospitals is fast approaching.

Claimants have until midnight ET on March 31 to register for funds from a Quebec Superior Court ruling last fall that found patients had waited too long for radiation treatment.

A judge ruled in September that the hospitals involved have to pay women who had to wait longer than 12 weeks for radiation therapy.

So far, nearly 4,000 patients will receive up to $1,000 each.

Women are eligible for compensation if they underwent conservative breast cancer surgery between Oct. 13, 1997 and March 26, 2009, and didn't receive radiotherapy treatment within 12 weeks.

Many of those women went to New York and Vermont for treatment.

Michel Savonitto, the lawyer representing the claimants, said the lawsuit has led to changes in Quebec's health-care system.

"I think it put pressure on the system to make sure we get the treatment we deserve," Savonitto said.