Blood scandal - Companies must pay for their actions

IF the Government fails to take legal action against American companies which supplied the contaminated blood products that resulted in people being infected with hepatitis C and HIV, it will be shirking its responsibility towards the many victims whose lives have been destroyed, as well as the country’s taxpayers, who face a €900 million compensation bill.

Reflecting the indecision which has generally characterised this administration, the Coalition has yet to take the initiative by aggressively pursuing the commercial groups which, unfortunately with the aid of the State-run blood transfusion agency, supplied this country with contaminated blood products.

By any yardstick, the blood scandal is the darkest chapter in the history of a healthcare system more reminiscent of a Third World regime than one of Europe’s richest nations.

In the decade since the reparation process was established, more than 3,000 people, including those infected with hepatitis C and HIV, their spouses, carers and dependants, have lodged compensation claims.

The deadline for lodging compensation claims is October 9.

Few would quibble with the basic contention of the Irish Haemophilia Society that costs should be recouped from the pharmaceutical companies behind the blood products debacle. Ten years on, however, apart from ordering a report on the feasibility of bringing the culprits to account, the political reality is that no concrete measures have yet been taken to force the manufacturers of the infected products to pay compensation.

Having switched portfolios after the coalition reshuffle, responsibility for the matter has passed from Minister Micheál Martin to Tánaiste Mary Harney.

Already showing signs of being overwhelmed by the huge challenge of knocking the creaking health service into shape, Ms Harney has yet to receive legal advice on the vexed question of whether or not to take legal action against the US pharmaceutical groups over the blood scandal.

Almost two years have passed since the Government was approached by a firm of New York lawyers with a proposal to sue certain companies in the United States arising from the manufacture of blood products which led to haemophiliacs and other patients being infected with hepatitis C and HIV.

When legal doubts were raised, the Attorney General sought the independent opinion of lawyers in the US in respect of the proposed litigation. Seemingly, the report will soon be on the Minister’s desk and the advice will determine what action, if any, she should take. Ms Harney’s decision will have immense significance for those infected with hepatitis C and HIV, and taxpayers alike.

Essentially, there are two sides to this issue. Ideally, the State should secure financial redress from the manufacturing companies. Of far greater importance, however, is the need to establish a fundamental moral principle by attributing blame to those who have ruined the lives of so many people.

While a final bill of around €900m is anticipated, almost two thirds of claims have so far been settled, costing taxpayers well over €600m in awards, legal and other costs.

In the growing litany of compensation controversies involving the State, among them the army deafness fiasco and the outrage of illegal nursing home charges, the blood products scandal is by far the most tragic.

If there is even the slightest prospect of legal action against the giant corporations behind this appalling affair, then, in the interests of the victims and their families, those responsible must be named and shamed and made to pay for their actions in legal, financial and moral terms.