The Lindsay Tribunal Chairwoman expects to give a ruling next week on whether to expand the scope of the inquiry to investigate international drug firms. Judge Alison Lindsay said that it would take "some time" to evaluate the arguments put forward by lawyers for the Tribunal and the representatives of the Irish Haemophilia Society. The IHS had claimed it was impossible to conclude the inquiry without investigating the drug companies.
During the hearing, John Finlay, Senior Counsel, said that he did not believe the Tribunal was entitled to conduct such an investigation under its terms of reference.
Richard Nesbitt, Senior Counsel for the Haemophilia Society, argued today that it was necessary to examine the state of knowledge of all parties in relation to the infection of 252 Irish haemophiliacs with HIV and Hepatitis C. In an hour-long oral submission, he contended that any examination which avoids one party - in other words the drug firms - was likely to be one which fails.
He said that it was open to Judge Alison Lindsay to order the companies to produce documents, to seek them under Freedom of Information, or to apply to a US court to obtain them. Mr Nesbitt said that the IHS approach was a proportionate response to evidence already disclosed and the matters were worthy of investigation.
However John Finlay said that the Tribunal's Terms of Reference were carefully drafted and avoided directing it to investigate commercial manufacturers. He said that he did not accept that the state of mind of the drug companies, as opposed to what they communicated to people in Ireland, would help the Tribunal in any material way. Mr Finlay said that to argue that it would be unfair not to investigate the drug firms was not well founded.
None of the other parties at the hearing chose to speak on the IHS application other than the Tribunal legal team. The drug firms at the centre of the discussions were not legally represented at the hearing. The tribunal has now been adjourned.
