Lindsay report fails to recommend prosecutions

The long-awaited report from the tribunal investigating the infection of haemophiliacs with HIV and Hepatitis C has not recommended criminal prosecutions by the DPP.

The Lindsay Tribunal said it is not responsible for deciding issues of criminal or civil liability in connection with the scandal.

In her final report, which was published today, tribunal chairperson Judge Alison Lindsay made eight recommendations regarding the future treatment of haemophiliacs, including a call for greater co-operation between doctors treating the condition.

She also said that blood products used in the treatment of haemophilia should be of the highest standard and that medical records should be kept and maintained in a more satisfactory manner than at present.

The report is expected to represent a major disappointment for the Irish Haemophilia Society because of its failure to recommend action against those responsible for the infection scandal.

Judge Lindsay also declined to make any comment in relation to the demand for a separate investigation into the US pharmaceutical firms whose contaminated products caused the infection of Irish haemophiliacs with HIV and Hepatitis C.

Her report, however, did criticise the Irish Blood Transfusion Service for the way it dealt with one of these products, known as Factor 9, which is known to have caused the deaths of at least five people.