Prosecutions unlikely over tainted blood deaths

IT is unlikely that anyone will be prosecuted in connection with the deaths of 79 people who were given contaminated blood products, following the publication of the Lindsay Tribunal report yesterday.

The 600-page report into the infection of more than 260 haemophiliacs with HIV and hepatitis C criticised the Blood Bank and the Department of Health for their parts in the scandal.

The report castigated the Irish Blood Transfusion Service Board (then the Blood Transfusion Service Board) for delays in recalling one of its blood products, Factor IX, which infected seven haemophiliacs with HIV.