Irish Hemophilia Society Gains Extra Time to Gather Evidence in Tainted Blood Product Investigation

An Irish tribunal investigating the infection of hemophiliacs and others with HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1980s has granted the Irish Hemophilia Society (IHS) an extension until Jan. 8 to submit additional medical records for use in the investigation's third phase, the Lancet reports. The second phase of hearings officially ended Dec. 12, but Judge Alison Lindsay on Dec. 18 ruled in a special one-day session that the IHS could submit additional medical records and delayed the opening of the third phase of hearings until Jan. 18 to allow for additional time to review the new records. In the third phase of the Tribunal, she must determine from the evidence whether doctors "took sufficient steps to safeguard the health and safety of their patients" when providing hemophiliacs with blood products in the mid 1980s. During that time, more than 200 people were infected with one or both viruses through the use of blood products, and 75 have died (Birchard, Lancet, 1/13).