Health boards throughout the State are examining their records following a request by the Department of Health to find out how many babies received a toxic whooping cough vaccine.
This follows the disclosure to the Department by Wellcome, the manufacturers of the three-in-one vaccine, of the numbers of the six lots produced from batch 3741 in July and August 1968. Batch number 3741 was held liable by the Supreme Court in June 1992 for brain damage caused to Mr Kenneth Best, of Douglas, Cork.
The court ordered a High Court retrial to determine damages for him. It found Wellcome negligent in that the tests the company performed on the vaccine were inadequate. It was also negligent in releasing the batch containing the vaccine injected into Mr Best, which exceeded the recommended levels for potency and toxicity.
A consultant told the court that Mr Best, then aged 23, was "like an animal", walking aimlessly around his parents' garden, unable to speak, incontinent, with no memory and the mental age of a one-year-old child.
In May 1993, the High Court awarded Mr Best £2.75 million, the largest award paid to any person in the State in a personal injuries action.
A Department source said that an examination of its records by the Western Health Board had identified a small number of cases in which vaccine was administered in September 1969.
The source said the matter would be considered further in the light of the response from the health boards to examine their records.