The Blood Transfusion Service did not have a policy on how to make blood products safe in the mid 1980s, a time when haemophiliacs were testing positive for HIV. The disclosure was made at the Lindsay Tribunal, which was focusing on why Factor 9 clotting agent used by haemophiliacs and made by Pelican House was not recalled in 1986. The blood product was made from donations by donors who had not been tested for HIV and the clotting agent had not been heat treated to inactivate viruses.
The Tribunal has already heard that the Factor 9 clotting agent infected 7 haemophiliacs with HIV, five of whom have since died. Gerry Durcan, Senior Counsel for the Tribunal, put it to Dr Terry Walsh, former BTS Chief Medical Consultant, that the lack of a policy was 'extraordinarily unsatisfactory'.
Dr Walsh said that in hindsight it was; but he added that people working at Pelican House were doing their best as they saw it at the time. The Tribunal also heard that a Department of Health letter to the then Chief Medical Consultant Dr Vincent Barry in January 1986 stated that it was 'imperative' that all blood products made from donations not tested for HIV should be withdrawn. Dr Walsh agreed that the BTS didn't write a re-call letter but said the request was 'impossible' and declared that the Department of Health knew this to be the case.
