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Junk
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Sorry for tainted blood. Now piss off.
This is a chapter in Canadian history where the big story gets stretched to the point of irrelevence through years and years of bureaucracy and legal red tape. Makes me ashamed to be a Canadian.
Your thoughts? Are you aware and do you care? Could you not care less?
Let's hear it Canada. Does this make you proud?
Or are we waiting for the Karla show to start?
Quote:
Tue, May 31, 2005
Sorry for tainted blood
Victims welcome charity's apology, but say punishment dosn't cut it
By SEAN MEAGHER, Ottawa Sun
THE RED CROSS pleaded guilty yesterday to violating the Food and Drugs Act and apologized for distributing tainted blood.
The tainted-blood scandal of the 1980s and early 1990s infected more than 20,000 people with HIV and hepatitis C, killing many of them, because blood was not properly screened for the diseases.
Victims were quick to express outrage at the punishment -- a $5,000 fine and $1.5 million dedicated to a scholarship fund and research project aimed at improving care practices and reducing medical errors -- in exchange for dropped criminal charges.
Those victims include Ottawa's Joe Hache, 22, who received a blood transfusion in 1986 to treat a rare blood disease and was infected with hepatitis C.
Living with the disease hasn't been easy, but it didn't stop Hache from earning a general science degree at Carleton University with degrees in business and computer science. He's now looking for full-time work.
"I won't let it (hepatitis C) run my life," Hache told the Sun last night.
FINE'S 'A JOKE'
Although pleased to hear about the Red Cross apology and guilty plea, Hache said he feels more should be done.
"When I heard about the $5,000 fine, I thought it was a joke," he said.
Red Cross lawyer Michael Edelson said it would be unfair to focus solely on the fine.
"People may have a perception that it's a slap on the wrist but don't forget there's a $1.5-million initiative here which will last for many years to come (and a) previous payment of $70 million (to victims)," said Edelson.
Hache was relieved that someone is finally taking the blame.
"That's the good thing about all this is that they're admitting they did wrong and they were responsible for poisoning me," he said.
Mike McCarthy, spokesman for the Canadian Hemophilia Society and activist for victims, also welcomed the apology but with little satisfaction.
"How can anybody be satisfied for what happened (yesterday)? Thousands of people lost their lives. Hundreds and hundreds of people are living with these fatal viruses today. There's no great outcome here for anybody that's gone through the tainted-blood scandal.
"Government's treated us like dirt for years, we're still awaiting for compensation for people that have been forgotten."
The feds and the provinces announced a $1.2-billion package in 1998, but it offered benefits only to victims infected from 1986 to 1990.
John Plater, a lawyer and Ontario president of the Canadian Hemophilia Society who contracted HIV and hemophilia from bad blood, called the conviction historic.
"This will go down in history as the first day we got finally to the reality that there was breaking of law that led to this," he said.
It's unclear whether all victims will ever be compensated but it is clear that not everyone is satisfied.
"This is a kick in the teeth. It's a joke," said Joe's father, Joe Hache Sr., adding he expects the guilty plea and admission of wrongdoing will open the doors to lawsuits and damage claims from victims.
BACKGROUND INFO
The Canadian Red Cross apologized yesterday for distributing tainted blood. It faces a $5,000 fine and says it will dedicate $1.5 million to victims' families and a research project.
- What: The Canadian Red Cross pleaded guilty to violating the Food and Drugs Act. Charges of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and common nuisance were withdrawn.
- When: The agency distributed bad blood products between January 1983 and May 1990 after it was slow to implement screening measures.
- Who: More than 1,000 Canadians became infected with blood-borne HIV and up to 20,000 others contracted hepatitis C after receiving tainted blood products.
- Quotes: "The Canadian Red Cross Society is deeply sorry for the injury and death caused to those who were infected by blood and blood products it distributed. And for the suffering caused to families and loved ones of those who were harmed. We profoundly regret that the Canadian Red Cross Society did not develop, nor adopt more quickly, measures to reduce the risks of infection and we accept responsibility to our plea for having distributed harmful product to those who relied upon us for their health." -- secretary general Dr. Pierre Duplessis.
- "People may have a perception that it's a slap on the wrist but don't forget there's a $1.5-million initiative here which will last for many years to come (and a) previous payment of $70 million (to victims)." -- Red Cross lawyer Michael Edelson on the $5,000 fine.
- "I'm pleased in particular that there's an apology to the victims, because in the past the Red Cross treated this as though it were some natural disaster that it had no hand in and wasn't responsible for." -- James Kreppner, 43, of Toronto, who contracted HIV and hepatitis C from blood transfusions in the 1980s.
sean.meagher@ott.sunpub.com
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http://www.ottawasun.com/
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" In Canada, you can tell the most blatant lie in a calm voice, and people will believe you over someone who's a little passionate about the truth." David Warren, Western Standard.
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