EVIDENCE THAT the risk of a garda contracting diseases from infected drug addicts is as likely as being struck by an asteroid, was noted by a High Court judge in an important ruling yesterday on compensation claims.
Ms Justice Mary Irvine said the way to allay Garda fears of picking up hepatitis or HIV infection was through educating gardaí, GPs and hospital house doctors and solicitors who handle compensation claims.
The State has paid more than €30 million in the past two years in compensation and legal fees for psychological distress and other injuries suffered by gardaí during the course of duty.
Because of conflicting opinion and a significant number of such cases, the judge had signalled that more definitive advice was needed and she called on all sides to submit expert up-to-date information to help the court decide on compensation when members of the force experience trauma arising from fear of disease after an incident such as a spit or a bite from a drug addict.
In a 100-page judgment on three Garda claims, Ms Justice Irvine said expert evidence revealed that use of medical risk terminology such as mild, moderate or severe was unhelpful in situations where the risk was often minuscule.
Overtesting by doctors and the imposition of sex restrictions often caused unnecessary anxiety and worry. The risk of being killed driving was very much greater than the risk of contracting HIV or hepatitis C (HCV) after an assault.
She said there was a lack of knowledge among gardaí about these viruses in general and they continued to hold a significantly inflated view of potential risk, notwithstanding current Garda education promotions.
The judge said the imposition of restrictions on unprotected sexual relations following such an assault were often unwarranted. HIV had first been described in 1981 and two years later it had become clear it was transmissible through sexual activity and blood products.
Fears that it could be transmitted through saliva and sputum had proved to be unfounded and even deep kissing had been established as being safe.
HIV could be transmitted if an infected person’s blood was inoculated into the flesh of another or on to a mucosal area such as the surface of the eye or inside the mouth.
The most common form of transmission in a work setting was through needle-stick injury.
The consequences for an individual contracting HIV had radically changed due to the availability of powerful anti-retroviral therapies.
It was vital that gardaí understand that for anyone unfortunate enough to actually contract HCV, treatment was successful in 98 per cent of cases. A search of worldwide medical literature produced only three cases where it was convincingly demonstrated that HIV had been transmitted by a bite.
Not one of a group of 1,300 police officers exposed to a risk of transmission of HIV and HCV in Amsterdam this decade had gone on to contract either virus.
A recent survey into the incidence of infection in the police forces in the UK revealed no case of reported infection.
Ms Justice Irvine said that if accurate information and adequate reassurance could be provided to gardaí, the Minister for Justice should not be faced with applications from members seeking leave to maintain compensation claims. She said solicitors who advise members on potential claims could play a role.
The judge feared that the health and welfare of gardaí might become compromised in the pursuit of the evidence necessary to maintain a claim.
Gardaí were often sent for a series of examinations by doctors and specialists and it had been her experience in dealing with such claims that medical legal consultations did little to assuage fears and, if anything, served to reinforce concerns.
The judge yesterday made awards in the three cases the court had gone into in detail, of €6,000, €7,000 and €15,000 respectively.
She said the three gardaí concerned had each been maliciously assaulted; one had been spat upon and the other two had been bitten by their respective assailants.
Ms Justice Irvine said liability of the Minister to compensate the three members had been established under the Garda Síochána Compensation Acts in that each of them had proved they had been injured in the course of carrying out their duties and malice had been been conceded by the Minister.