RCMP lays criminal charges decades after Canadian tainted-blood scandal

RCMP Supt. Rod Knecht lists the seventeen criminal charges resulting from the RCMP Blood Task Force at a news conference in Toronto on Wednesday. (J.P. Moczulski/CP)

 Audio clip: The charges were outlined by Superintendent Rod Knecht

TORONTO (CP) - Criminal charges have been laid against four doctors, the Red Cross and an American pharmaceutical company in the tainted-blood scandal of the 1980s, and the RCMP says more charges could follow.

The RCMP announced the charges Wednesday after a five-year investigation into the tragedy that infected thousands of Canadians with HIV and hepatitis C. The charges include criminal negligence causing bodily harm, which carries a maximum 10-year sentence.

"The charges we have announced today reflect the fact that our investigation has met the requirements to lay these particular charges," said Supt. Rod Knecht, the officer in charge of the Toronto-based RCMP Blood Task Force.

Please see below for:

A chronology of the legal battles

Charges laid in tainted-blood scandal

"It is important to note that there are specific aspects of this investigation that we continue to pursue. The possibility exists that we will be laying further charges."

The blood task force has also laid charges of common nuisance by endangering the public as well as a charge of failure to notify under the Food and Drug Act regulations.

"The Canadian public needs to have confidence in their public institutions," said Knecht.

"The Canadian public has the right to expect the safest blood and the safest blood products possible. This is fundamental to the health, safety and lives of everyone living in Canada."

The Canadian Red Cross Society was charged with six counts of common nuisance by endangering the public.

Dr. John Furesz, 75, of Ottawa was charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and one count of common nuisance by endangering the public. Furesz was the former director of the bureau of biologics at the federal government's health protection branch.

Also charged was Dr. Wark Boucher, 62, of Nepean, who faces three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and one count of common nuisance by endangering the public. Boucher was the former chief of the blood products division of the bureau of biologics at the health protection branch.

Dr. Roger Perrault, 66, of Ottawa, who was the former director of the Canadian Red Cross Society's blood transfusion service, faces three counts of criminal negligence and seven counts of nuisance by endangering the public.

The Bridgewater, N.J., pharmaceutical company Armour, was charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, one count of common nuisance and one count of failure to notify under the Food and Drug Act.

Dr. Michael Rodell, 70, a former vice president of Armour who lives in Pennsylvania, was also charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and one count of common nuisance by endangering the public.

Jeremy Beaty, 65, who contracted hepatitis C from a blood transfusion during heart surgery in the late 1970s, said the charges show "the major institutions in our country have all been negligent" in administering the blood supply.

Beaty, a former president of the Hepatitis C Society of Canada, said the charges also open the door for others - potentially about 5,000 Canadians - to receive compensation from a $1.1-billion government fund set up to compensate those who received tainted blood.

The tainted-blood affair was considered one of worst public health disasters in Canadian history.

Thousands of patients who turned to the medical profession for help were infected with blood diseases after receiving tainted blood and blood products.

It was before the Canadian Red Cross began testing for HIV in 1985.

About 1,200 Canadians became infected with blood-borne HIV and thousands of others contracted hepatitis C.

The Red Cross began screening for hepatitis C in 1990, four years after the United States began testing donations for the disease that affects the liver.

A police task force was struck in the months following the 1997 release of Justice Horace Krever's report into the Canadian blood system.

The report, while critical of every major player in the blood system - from the Red Cross to the federal and provincial governments - did not apportion criminal liability.

However, the Supreme Court ruled in 1997 that the Krever inquiry could assign blame on individuals involved in the scandal.

During the subsequent RCMP investigation, police conducted more than 700 interviews and reviewed millions of documents.

The blood task force involved more than a dozen investigators and four full-time Crown lawyers.

Over the five-year investigation police solicited calls from the public through a toll-free number, and involved co-ordinators and investigators across the country.

As recently as last month, questions were still being raised about the country's blood system.

In a lengthy report issued in early October, the National Blood Safety Council said provinces need to assume a greater role in monitoring supply and ensuring safety.

The report cited a lack of political will among provincial and territorial health ministries in the years following the Krever inquiry into Canada's tainted blood disaster.

Many, but not all, of Krever's 50 final recommendations suggesting ways to help prevent a similar debacle have been implemented.

Since the inquiry, chief improvements to the system have included more detailed blood tests and the establishment of the Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec to replace the Red Cross.

Since the disaster, both the federal and provincial governments and the Red Cross have been involved in complex web of lawsuits and attempts at compensation, some of which are still ongoing.

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A chronology of the legal battles between the Red Cross and the inquiry into the Canadian blood system:

 

March 1985: Major blood suppliers in the United States begin testing blood products for the AIDS virus.

November 1985: Canadian Red Cross begins testing blood products for the AIDS virus.

Dec. 14, 1989: Federal government announces $150 million in compensation for about 1,250 Canadians infected with HIV through blood transfusions or blood products.

May 25, 1993: Parliamentary subcommittee on health says there's urgent need to trace people who may become infected with the AIDS virus through medical treatment before they infect others.

July 19, 1993: A federal health official says the government knew before July 1984 that blood products for hemophiliacs were contaminated with HIV.

Sept. 15, 1993: Provinces and territories announce a compensation plan for people who contracted the AIDS virus from contaminated blood and their families

Sept. 16, 1993: Tory Health Minister Mary Collins announces inquiry to recommend how to reform the blood system to make it safer and more efficient. It begins Nov. 22.

Dec. 21, 1995: The commission sends notices to the Red Cross, the federal and provincial governments, pharmaceutical companies and individuals, warning that they could be named for misconduct in the tainted blood tragedy.

January 1996: Virtually all of the parties who received notices launch court challenge, saying the commission does not have authority to assign blame.

June 1996: The Federal Court orders the commission not to make findings of misconduct against 47 individuals, mainly ministers and senior bureaucrats, but leaves 14 Red Cross officials and three federal officials open to blame.

July 1996: The Red Cross announces it will appeal the decision.

Jan. 17, 1997: The Federal Court dismisses the Red Cross challenge.

Jan. 30, 1997: The Red Cross announces it will seek permission to appeal to the Supreme Court.

March 27, 1998: Health ministers announce $1.2-billion federal- provincial compensation offer limited to victims infected by tainted blood from 1986 to 1990.

April 29, 1998: Quebec legislature moves motion to call on Ottawa to compensate all victims. Rock spokesman calls the move a "cynical, empty gesture."

April 30, 1998: Ontario and B.C. support Quebec motion.

May 4, 1998: Ontario Premier Mike Harris announces Ontario will compensate those excluded from original federal-provincial offer. Rock says he will reconsider his position.

May 6, 1998: Red Cross reaches agreement with provincial and territorial governments to transfer blood services to two new agencies, Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec.

July 20, 1998: Red Cross announces it's broke and can't pay creditors or claimants.

Sept. 17, 1998: Rock reiterates there will be no federal compensation for those infected before 1986 or after 1990.

Nov. 23, 1998: Ontario begins compensating people excluded from the federal package.

Dec. 11, 1998: Red Cross files statement of claim demanding government coverage of tainted blood liabilities running into billions of dollars. Red Cross officials say they still hope for out-of-court settlement.

Dec. 18, 1998: Class-action lawyers leak outlines of a deal that would compensate victims infected from 1986 to 1990 on a sliding scale, with most money going to the sickest. Reaction from victims is mixed.

Jan. 28, 1999: More than 1,000 hemophiliacs launch $1-billion lawsuit against Ottawa for using tainted blood from U.S. jails.

March 26, 1999: The Red Cross offers a $60-million compensation plan for those people infected before 1986 and after 1990.

August 18, 1999: Hearings on the hepatitis C compensation plan begin in Ontario, Quebec and B.C.

Aug. 26, 1999: Quebec announces plan to compensate hepatitis C victims who aren't covered by the federal-provincial settlement.

Sept. 10, 1999: Federal Finance Minister Paul Martin sets up tax changes so that compensated victims won't pay income tax on their settlement.

Sept. 21, 1999: Quebec courts approve the $1.2-billion federal-provincial compensation plan.

Sept. 22, 1999: Ontario courts also approve plan.

April 19, 2001: Supreme Court of Canada rules the Red Cross was negligent in managing the blood system in the early years of the AIDS crisis.

June 26, 2001: Ontario judge Warren Winkler approves $79-million Red Cross-led settlement for people infected by hepatitis C through tainted blood before 1986 and after July 1, 1990.

Oct. 2002: National Blood Safety Council releases report saying provinces need to assume greater role in monitoring blood supply and ensuring safety.

Nov. 20, 2002: RCMP lays charges - including criminal negligence causing bodily harm - against four doctors, the Red Cross and an American pharmaceutical company following a five-year investigation into the tainted-blood scandal.

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Charges laid in tainted-blood scandal

TORONTO (CP) - The RCMP laid charges Wednesday in connection with the tainted-blood scandal of the 1980s. A quick look at the individuals and organizations in question and the charges they face:

-Canadian Red Cross Society: Charged with six counts of common nuisance by endangering the public.

- Dr. Roger Perrault, 66, of Ottawa: Former director of Canadian Red Cross's blood transfusion service. Charged with three counts of criminal negligence and seven counts of nuisance by endangering the public.

The Red Cross and Perrault were implicated for not screening out blood donors who might have had HIV.

- Dr. John Furesz, 75, of Ottawa: Former director of bureau of biologics at federal government's health protection branch. Charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and one count of common nuisance by endangering the public.

 

- Dr. Wark Boucher, 62, of Nepean, Ont.: Former chief of blood products division of bureau of biologics at health protection branch. Charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and one count of common nuisance by endangering the public.

- Armour, a Bridgewater, N.J., pharmaceutical company: Charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, one count of common nuisance and one count of failure to notify under the Food and Drug Act. Armour, which developed blood products distributed in Canada by the Red Cross, was implicated for failing to notify the federal government of problems or suspected problems with the blood products.

- Dr. Michael Rodell, 70: Former vice-president of Armour who lives in Pennsylvania. Charged with three counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and one count of common nuisance by endangering the public.

All four doctors and Armour were also implicated for allowing Armour's HIV-infected blood-clotting product to be given to hemophiliacs, putting the public at risk of contracting the disease.

 

© The Canadian Press, 2002