Anti-D scandal was a bloody disgrace

It’s been 20 years since the country first heard of the anti-D scandal. Initial alarm has now been joined by anger and grief, and the story isn’t finished yet, writes Caroline O’Doherty

NO need for alarm, Brendan Howlin, the health minister declared, doing his best to sound reassuring about the Hepatitis C scare gripping the mothers of the country.

But the numbers involved were huge — as many as 100,000 women were feared to be at risk. The time period was extensive — the potentially lethal virus could have been lurking inside them for almost 20 years. And the uncertainties were vast — nobody could say how the virus would affect any individual woman, what her prognosis might be, what needs might arise for her, or what the State would do to meet them.