Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia, Inc.; Wednesday November 26, 1997 7:40 pm EST
Jason Brown
The inquiry was called more than four years ago after some 1,200 Canadians were infected with HIV and another 12,000-27,000 were infected with Hepatitis C in the 1980s and early 1990s because of improperly-screened blood.
"It is recommended that, without delay, the provinces and territories devise statutory no-fault schemes for compensating persons who suffer serious, adverse consequences as a result of the administration of blood components or blood products," Justice Horace Krever wrote in his 1,200-page final report.
At a news conference following the report's release, Canada's Minister of Health, Allan Rock, apologized to all those infected but would not say whether he supported the recommendations on compensation.
"We are sorry for all that has happened," Rock said. He said he needed to talk to provincial officials before taking a stand on any of the report's 50 recommendations.
HIV victims currently receive some compensation but Hepatitis C victims receive none.
The multimillion dollar inquiry slammed the Red Cross and government departments in charge of monitoring the country's blood system, calling their operations "dysfunctional."
The Red Cross will be completely shut out of the blood business in Canada by September 1998 when a new agency takes over which will be jointly operated by Canada's federal and provincial governments.
Scandals over tainted blood supplies have become issues in a number of other countries, including France where it is estimated 1,325 hemophiliacs and 2,600 transfusion recipients were infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. More than 400 have since died.
Victims' groups praised Krever's report, which included the names of doctors and officials and their roles in decisions that affected the quality of the blood supply.
"Without using the word negligence, he said who did what and why," said Durhane Wong-Rieger, president of the Canadian Hemophilia Society. "This has been a long road for us. I'd like to think we've made a lot of progress but it is really only the latest chapter."
Wong-Rieger said she now wants the Canadian Mounties to investigate whether criminal charges can be laid over individual roles in the scandal.
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