Lawyers clash at Lindsay Tribunal

Lawyers at the Lindsay Tribunal have clashed over whether the inquiry should fully investigate US pharmaceutical companies that supplied contaminated blood products to the Irish Blood Transfusion Service.

The Irish Haemophilia Society has applied for such an investigation, but lawyers for the tribunal feel it would unduly delay and prolong the inquiry, which they feel is nearing its natural end.

Counsel for the tribunal said the IHS has failed to justify why documents should be examined when US experts have already given evidence about the blood products in question.

The IHS, on the other hand, said it is neither impractical nor unreasonable to suggest an investigation of the US firms because, if the findings of the tribunal result in prosecutions, everyone culpable for the infection of 250 Irish haemophiliacs with HIV and Hepatitis C should face charges.