Blood scandal - Drugs firms must be held responsible

THE anger expressed by the Irish Haemophilia Society (IHS) because of apparent Government indolence is very understandable.

Four years ago it gave a commitment to determine the feasibility of legally chasing the international pharmaceutical companies which generated tainted blood products which caused hepatitis C and HIV infections.

To date, 87 people in this country have died because they were given contaminated clotting agents.

In the interim, the Government stands accused that it has failed to initiate any action which could conceivably result in considerable compensation for victims.

This issue is not just about compensation, but making those companies responsible for actions which had devastating effects on so many people be made accountable.

In the 10 years since the scandal occurred and for which a tribunal was established, more than 3,000 people - those infected with hepatitis C and HIV, their spouses, carers and dependants - have lodged claims.

In one case last year, the High Court awarded €2 million to a 24-year-old man infected with hepatitis C at birth after his mother was given anti-D during an earlier pregnancy.

Realistically, the Government is facing a final bill in the region of €900m to compensate people infected by contaminated blood, and it makes economic sense to try to recoup it.

It must be wondered why Tánaiste and Health Minister Mary Harney engaged lawyers in both Britain and the US specifically to probe the role of international pharmaceutical companies if nothing has happened since.

That initiative, which was originally welcomed by the IHS, is rooted in a promise given by her predecessor Mícheál Martin when he gave a commitment to investigate those companies.

The reaction of Brian O’Mahony, chief executive of the IHS, reflects the frustration felt by members of the society. Because it had let so much time pass, due to either incompetence, inability or unwillingness, he said the State had lost tens of millions as some of the claims that could have been made against US pharmaceutical companies may now be out of time in legal terms.

If true, then it runs contrary to the line taken by other countries which pursued the offending companies outside their own jurisdiction and who have initiated such legal action.

Of course, when the IHS met the Health Minister yesterday, they had other disconcerting questions to deal with, specifically accusations that the State was failing to make proper provision for its members and using adversarial tactics to frustrate their cases.

While the State would reject such claims, the IHS insists this occurred in a number of members.

That it could happen at all is simply unacceptable.

So too is the matter of insurance for people with Hepatitis C, and it would appear the Government has reneged on a promise to introduce legislation which would overcome this problem.