"It is to be hoped that persons with haemophilia and their families will never again be struck with a disaster of the kind into which this tribunal is inquiring."
These were the closing remarks of Mr John Finlay SC, counsel for the Tribunal, at the end of his opening statement.
The tribunal will in coming weeks examine the role of the BTSB, its servants or agents in the manufacture or selection of blood products for haemophiliacs with particular reference to the adequacy of steps taken to avoid or minimise the risk of infecting them. It will also deal with the situation which arose when both the risk of infection and actual infections became known.
Some 260 haemophiliacs in the State have been infected with HIV and/or hepatitis C. Seventy four of them have died. Counsel said there was no knowledge of HIV or AIDS up to 1981. In July 1982 the infection was reported in three persons with haemophilia in the US. He said the majority of those infected with HIV in the Republic between 1981 and 1987 were treated with imported factor 8 clotting agent but it appeared two received cryoprecipitate only, manufactured by the BTSB.
He added that the BTSB would give evidence that one haemophiliac who tested HIV negative in April 1985 and positive in December 1986 probably became infected by a single treatment of clotting agent provided by the Armour drug company, which used a deficient heat-treatment system. The product was recalled in September 1986. When the deficiency of the product became known will also be examined. Mr Finlay said one of the key issues to be examined was whether the BTSB should have achieved a situation of self-sufficiency in respect of blood products rather than importing them.
He added that while the BTSB were attempting to achieve self-sufficiency by 1983, there seemed to be "a major change in policy" by early 1984 when it began to pursue the idea of having companies abroad produce factor 8 from plasma collected in Ireland.
Mr Finlay said the tribunal would also examine the infection of persons with hepatitis C, which was not identified until 1989. He said the BTSB attempted to introduce a test for the virus in 1987 but did not receive approval from the Minister for Health.