The Lindsay Tribunal has been hearing the testimony of the wife of a haemophiliac who died six years ago as a result of receiving contaminated blood products. Using the pseudonym Isobel, the woman told how her husband found out he had Hepatitis-C in a letter that was sent to their home. She said that there were no support services available to them at the time.Other witnesses told the same story. When a hospital official spoke of hospital efforts to get counsellors. The public gallery started laughing.
Isobel told the Tribunal her husband found out about his Hepatitis-C when a letter was sent to his home. No one else got in touch with them. Later on, when her husband was told he had liver cancer, there was no counselling or support offered. Isobel described a cold medical world with only some incidents of kindness shown. This picture was supported by testimony from two other witnesses both haemophiliacs with Hepatitis-C. It was like walking a road alone, Isobel said. In 1993 her husband went to St Vincent's Hospital in Dublin for tests. Isobel told the staff that she absolutely wanted to be with him when he got the results. She made it quite clear, she said. But when she arrived at the hospital at the appointed time he had already been told that he had liver cancer. He died 36 hours later. Deirdre Murphy from St James' Hospital then took the stand and explained that a government embargo had prevented the appointment of counsellors in the late 1980's.
