A leaflet issued by the Irish Haemophilia Society to its members in 1985 contained incorrect information, the Lindsay tribunal heard yesterday.
Information on AIDS in haemophilia stated that all factor concentrates used in Ireland from January 1985 would be heat-treated. "It is thought that the HIV virus is heat sensitive . . . it is hoped that this will inactivate the virus," it said.
However, all concentrates being given to haemophiliacs were not heat-treated at the time. Non-heat-treated concentrate in the form of factor 9 made by the Blood Transfusion Service Board continued to be used into 1986 and infected seven haemophiliacs with HIV, five of whom have since died. One also went on to infect his partner.
Mr Shay Farrelly, a former chairman of the Irish Haemophilia Society (IHS) said the society understood at the time that all products, imported and home produced, were heat-treated.
Counsel for the tribunal, Mr Gerard Durcan SC, asked Mr Farrelly how the society could be of this opinion when a letter by the former director of the National Haemophilia Treatment Centre, Prof Ian Temperley, which accompanied the leaflet, stated something different.
It said the National Haemophilia Treatment Centre would be recalling all factor 8 concentrates from early 1985 and replacing them with heat-treated products. "It has also advised that all home-produced products should be heat-treated," it said. Home-produced products meant factor 9 clotting agents.
Mr Durcan put it to Mr Farrelly that Prof Temperley was saying all products should be heat-treated but the IHS was saying all were being heat-treated. Mr Farrelly said he believed the society assumed all products were being heat-treated.
Earlier the tribunal heard that such was the IHS's admiration for the BTSB in the early 1980s it proposed its director, the late Dr Jack O'Riordan, for a People of the Year award.
Ms Pamela Aldrich, the mother of a haemophiliac and a former chairperson of the IHS, told the tribunal Dr O'Riordan was seen as a friend of the society and invited onto the society's advisory committee of experts in 1986. Prof Temperley was also invited to sit on the committee and while he took up the offer he never attended meetings, she said.
She said members were very concerned about the way blood was collected in the US for making concentrates after seeing a World in Action documentary in 1985. They sought a meeting with the blood bank to find out what was the delay in the production of these products at Pelican House and decided if the information was not forthcoming they would seek a meeting with the Minister for Health and alert the media.
"It was the first time in the history of the society that such action was contemplated," she said.