A Dublin woman who contracted hepatitis C after receiving infected anti-D plasma made by the Blood Transfusion Service Board (BTSB) settled her action for damages yesterday in the High Court for an undisclosed sum believed to be about €2 million.
The action was taken against the board, the Minister for Health and the State for an undisclosed sum.
A public apology on behalf of the Minister for Health and Children was read in court, which stated the Minister was fully committed to providing an extensive range of health and support services to those who had contracted hepatitis C from infected BTSB blood products.
In the action Mrs Eleanor Healy (51), a mother of eight children, had claimed she had been given "a shot" of anti-D at the birth of a daughter in 1977, from a batch of blood manufactured by the BTSB which had tested positive for hepatitis C.
It was also her case that she had been infected from another batch in 1993 at the birth of a son.
The case had been a number of days at hearing before settlement was announced yesterday. Mr John Rogers SC, for Mrs Healy, told Mr Justice Johnson the action could be struck out.
Mr Kevin Feeney SC, for the Minister, read the apology which stated the Minister very much regretted the pain and suffering caused to Mrs Healy and her family because she contracted hepatitis C while a patient of the State.
The apology went on: "He fully acknowledges that the pain and suffering of the family is extensive and accepts that what has happened to them is a major tragedy.
"The Minister wishes to express how deeply sorry he is that failures in the health services should have caused so much suffering. The Minister and his Department are fully committed to ensuring that the plaintiff and others who have contracted hepatitis C from infected blood or blood products will continue to receive an extensive range of health and support services to meet their needs both now and into the future."
On the first day of the action an "open apology" was given by the BTSB to Mrs Healy.
Mr Paul Gallagher SC, for the BTSB, said he had been instructed to apologise unreservedly to Mrs Healy for the injury she had suffered due to the fault of the BTSB.
Mr Rogers in opening the case had told Mr Justice Johnson that Mrs Healy had wept for a year after her diagnosis. She was terrified and equated her infection with the AIDS virus in terms of its stigma.
The court heard that Mrs Healy had worked as a costume wardrobe supervisor in the Abbey, RTÉ and the Point Depot.
As a result of the infection Mr Rogers said Mrs Healy had been left in a debilitated state and had to live with the awful knowledge that on the birth of a son in 1990 he too had become infected.
Biopsies of the liver had shown persistent hepatitis and destruction of the architecture of her liver. Doctors had said that sooner or later she could become a candidate for a liver transplant.
Mr Rogers said Mrs Healy had not processed her claim through the Government tribunal set up to deal with cases such as hers (the cases are heard in private) but decided to "bite the bullet" and to pursue her claim for damages in the High Court.