BTSB chief says people who refuse donated blood may die

THE controversy over blood supply has "gone beyond reasonable debate" and runs the risk that people in urgent need of blood may die after refusing a donation the chief executive of the Blood Transfusion Service Board said last night.

Mr Liam Dunbar said that in the last three years the BTSB had issued more than half a million red blood cell units, in excess of 60,000 platelet units and several million blood units to haemophiliacs, to people who needed supplies desperately. "Nobody has been infected as a consequence. I don't know what we can say to reassure people."

He was commenting after a Sunday Independent poll showed that 85 per cent of respondents felt the BTSB's credibility had been damaged by the recent error when blood was sought from a hepatitis C victim despite claims it had never threatened anyone's health.

Meanwhile, the Fianna Fail spokesman on health, Mr Brian Cowen, said yesterday that legislation to reappraise and amend the scheme of compensation and terms of reference of the hepatitis C compensation tribunal must be introduced urgently to allow victims to decide if they would accept awards or go back to the High Court.

The draft legislation needed to be published before April 5th, he said, as 26 victims had yet to reach a decision on awards from the compensation tribunal because they did not know what exactly the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan, was proposing.

His understanding was that the April 5th meeting of Positive Action, which represents most of the 1,600 hepatitis C victims, was the deadline for many of those unsure about their position. Legislation was required quickly to show thee Government's good faith in view of previous failures in the scandal.

"There is much confusion about what the Minister is proposing. He has to spell out whether the State is offering an admission of liability or just the BTSB, whether the compensation tribunal will have exactly the same powers in making awards as the High Court and if a right of appeal will exist."

The call came amid reports that conceding aggravated damages could cost an additional £160 million, bringing the total hepatitis C bill to nearly £400 million.

Confirmation that a woman who received anti D from a contaminated batch in 1993 subsequently made at least five blood donations before being told by the BTSB that her donations were no longer required, was criticised by Progressive Democrats spokeswoman on health, Ms Cathy Honan. "It's a disturbing reminder of the gross inefficiency and extreme insensitivity with which the BTSB has conducted itself."

The case reported in the Sunday Business Post suggested, she said, that due to a failure to contact all those treated with infected batches the number of victims could far exceed 1,600. The BTSB policy of only disclosing anti D numbers on request was unacceptable.

It has emerged that the BTSB has apologised to the woman with hepatitis C from whom it had sought a blood donation even though it was aware she had been infected by its product.