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Victims Await Verdict Monday in Tainted Blood Scandal's First Criminal Case

Posted on: Monday, 1 October 2007, 15:00 CDT

By THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO - Victims of the tainted-blood scandal were anxiously awaiting a verdict Monday in the first criminal trial stemming from what's been described as the worst public-health disaster in Canadian history.

Dr. Roger Perrault, 70, a former national medical director with the Canadian Red Cross, stood trial with three other doctors and a New Jersey pharmaceutical company for their alleged roles in the blood scandal that left thousands of Canadians infected with HIV or hepatitis C.

Perrault faces charges of criminal negligence causing bodily harm for allegedly giving hemophilia patients an HIV-infected blood-clotting product in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Charged along with Perrault are Dr. John Furesz and Dr. Donald Wark Boucher, formerly of Canada's Health Protection Branch.

Former vice-president of Armour Pharmaceutical, Dr. Michael Rodell, and the New Jersey-based company itself are also facing similar accusations.

It's alleged that Perrault and other officials with the Red Cross and Health Canada failed to screen blood products and take adequate measures to prevent people infected with HIV-AIDS from donating blood.

Closing arguments finished in early September; the verdict was to be delivered Monday afternoon by Justice Mary Lou Benotto.

If convicted of the most serious charge, the maximum penalty is 10 years in prison.

The Canadian Hemophilia Society has said it expects a number of people will be present in the Toronto courtroom to witness the verdict.

The doctors and the drug company have pleaded not guilty in the case, and lawyers for three of the accused doctors have alleged the Crown didn't present enough evidence to prove its case.

A second trial for Perrault is set to begin later this year in Hamilton, where he will face several more criminal charges stemming from allegations that the Red Cross and senior officials failed to take adequate measures to screen donors.

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.

It's not clear how many people have died as a result, but the death toll was 3,000 as of 1997.

In May 2006, the Canadian Red Cross apologized to tens of thousands of Canadians infected with AIDS or hepatitis C.

In exchange for a guilty plea under the federal Food and Drugs Act, the Crown withdrew charges of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and common nuisance against the charity.

The Red Cross accepted responsibility and said it would pay a $5,000 fine and dedicate $1.5 million to a scholarship fund and research project aimed at reducing medical errors.

Source: Canadian Press

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