The Lindsay Tribunal was set up in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
in 1999 to investigate the infection of haemophiliacs with
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...
and
Hepatitis C from contaminated blood products supplied by the
Blood Transfusion Service Board.
There are about 400 haemophiliacs in Ireland. According to the tribunal a 'minimal figure' of 250 haemophiliacs were infected with HIV or Hepatitis C while receiving treatment from the BTSB before 1985.
Haemophilia
Haemophilia, or hemophilia (), is a mostly inherited genetic disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in people bleeding for a longer time after an injury, easy bruising, ...
is a genetic condition where the blood does not clot as quickly as normal due to a deficiency in certain proteins. This means they can suffer from internal bleeding - bruises and sprains can be much more serious for haemophiliacs.
Haemophiliacs may be treated by transfusions of the protein they are deficient in. One source of this protein is from human blood. Heat-treatment of blood products was started in the mid-eighties. Heat-treatment of blood products reduces the probability of infection from them. Since 1992 recombinant proteins are generally used, which contain little, if any, human blood products - and thus have a negligible risk of contamination.
Most of the blood products used by the BTSB were from local donations. However, some of it came from American suppliers which included blood from prisoners and drug addicts, who had a high risk of infection.
Findings
The Tribunal criticised the National Haemophilia Centre for its slow response to the risk of HIV infection.
Findings of the Tribunal included:
*Patients were routinely started on home-treatment with possibly-dangerous commercial blood products, after the risk of infection had been discovered.
*Unheated blood products were probably not recalled after the safer heat-treated products became available.
*There was no formal means for communicating with regional centres to stop using unheated blood-products.
*There was an unacceptable delay between testing for HIV and Hepatitis and notification of the results (up to 4 years)
References
* {{cite web , url=http://health.gov.ie/blog/publications/report-of-the-tribunal-of-inquiry-into-the-infection-with-hiv-and-hepatitis-c-of-persons-with-haemophilia-and-related-matters/ , title=Report of the Tribunal of Inquiry into the Infection with HIV and Hepatitis C of Persons with Haemophilia and Related Matters , date=5 September 2002 , accessdate=16 September 2014 , publisher=Department of Health
External links
Irish Haemophilia Society Website
Political scandals in the Republic of Ireland
Public inquiries in Ireland
Contaminated blood case law
Contaminated haemophilia blood products