A SECOND medical assessment was carried out on the late Mrs Brigid McCole in the weeks before her death to assess the state of her health, The Irish Times has learned.
Dr Padraic MacMathuna, a consultant gastroenterologist, confirmed last night that he carried out an assessment of the Co Donegal woman.
Dr MacMathuna said he was asked to do so by McCann Fitzgerald, solicitors for the Blood Transfusion Service Board, at the time Mrs McCole was very ill in St Vincent's Hospital, shortly before her death in October. He said that he believed he was carrying it out on behalf of the State.
This appears to present a further inconsistency with the Minister for Health, Mr Noonan's contention that separate legal strategies were conducted by the State, the BTSB and the National Drugs Advisory Board. It also seems to contradict the Minister's assertion that only one medical assessment was carried out.
It was reported at the weekend that Prof Donald Weir, a consultant gastroenterologist, carried out an assessment and that his report was shared by the legal teams for the three defendants.
Following that report, Mr Noonan said that this did not indicate any level of collusion between the three defendants. It would have been completely unnecessary, he added, to insist that Mrs McCole be examined by separate medical consultants for all three defendants.
Asked to respond to the disclosure that a second assessment had been carried out, a spokesman for the Minister said last night that it was too late to check the detail and he would not make any comment.
It is not known why the second assessment was carried out by Dr MacMathuna at that time. It was not possible to make contact with the chief executive officer of the BTSB, Mr Liam Dunbar, last night.
The Fianna Fail spokesman on health, Mr Brian Cowen, inquired at a press conference on Sunday how many medical experts had been engaged to assess Mrs McCole and how many acted for all three defendants.
Meanwhile, Dr Gary Courtney, the consultant who gave evidence on behalf of Mrs Brigid McCole in the course of her legal action against the State, said yesterday that she would have been more than willing to have been examined by a second medical expert at the time that Prof Weir carried out his assessment.
Dr Courtney, a consultant gastroenterologist, said that he had been Mrs McCole's doctor for over two years: "Brigid would have been more than willing to have this done for her case. Despite what is being said now she was not given that option. She was a very courageous lady."