Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Associated Press - 9 Aug 95
Frank Giesbert, chief of Haemoplas GmbH in Osterode, and Guenter Eckert, co-owner of a laboratory in Wuelfrath, also were charged with 5,837 counts of attempted murder, said Hans-Hugo Heimgaertner, a prosecutors' spokesman. The company has sold blood plasma, tested by the lab, since 1980.
The murder charges were the first in a scandal that broke in 1993 with the disclosure that blood plasma was distributed in Germany for years without adequate testing for the AIDS virus.
Giesbert, 58, and Eckert, 55, allegedly agreed in the early 1980s not to test every plasma unit so that they could save money.
They are accused of testing just 10 percent of 5,837 plasma units for HIV. Prosecutors said the two men continued the practice even after a 1985 law mandated that they administer the HIV antibody test. They also allegedly delivered HIV-tainted blood products to hospitals and clinics into 1987.
Three patients who received contaminated products died of AIDS, the prosecutor's office said. Two others are said to have tested positive for HIV.
Eckert has been in jail for a year and Giesbert was arrested and jailed last week, officials said.
Copyright 1995/The Associated Press. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Associated Press, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10020.
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Copyright © 1995 - Associated Press. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the AP Permissions Desk.
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