HUNDREDS of Irish families are struggling with children brain-damaged as a result of the three-in-one vaccine, and a number are considering legal action for compensation, according to a woman whose son was awarded Pounds 2.75 million in the High Court in 1993.
Mrs Margaret Best from Cork says she is "inundated" with calls from families all over the country seeking advice. She was speaking after allegations that bad side-effects, including convulsions and brain damage from the vaccine in the 1970s, were played down and that children from Dublin orphanages were used in vaccine trials.
A number of parents are calling on the Minister for Health, Mr Cowen, to set up a tribunal of inquiry into the effects of the vaccine and the medical trials carried out on orphans.
The Adopted and Fostered Persons Association of Ireland said yesterday that their telephone lines had been jammed with distraught people, who had spent time in institutions, looking for more information on the "extent and scale of medical experiments".
The Department of Health said it was fully aware of the issues addressed in an article in the Irish Independent on Saturday. All the affected families who had requested information were, on the initiative of the then minister for health, Mr Howlin, "provided with a full copy of their files in relation to the examination carried out by the expert group".
The group was set up in the late 1970s to examine the effects of the three-in-one.
The Department said it was awaiting legal advice on certain questions which "could potentially compromise a pending court case". It hopes to be in a position to comment further later this week.
The acting Fine Gael Health spokesman, Mr Michael Noonan, is to table a special notice question this week in the Dail about the revelations concerning the vaccination of orphans. He said he had been surprised by the new information concerning the orphans and said it would need to be investigated further.
A spokeswoman for the Eastern Health Board said it was a matter that went back 25 years about which she had "no present knowledge".
Mrs Margaret Best said the State had a moral obligation to set up an inquiry into what had happened and to compensate those with brain-damaged children.
"They purchased vaccines from outside the State and simply accepted information from the pharmaceutical companies. Now the new Minister for Health should do something. It is really incredibly sad." She said many parents were exploring the possibility of taking legal action, but a number were having difficulty getting representation. Their difficulties were compounded by not having the batch number of the vaccine because the vaccination records were no longer available.