The Lindsay Tribunal has been told that haemophiliacs were the worst possible candidates to be diagnosed with Hepatitis C. This was because a quarter of the community had already been infected with HIV through contaminated blood products. The remark was made by a psychiatrist, Jo Campion, who acted as their counsellor in the 1990s.
Ms Campion began to counsel people who had contracted hepatitis in 1996. Many of these people were men with haemophilia who had been infected through blood products. Of the estimated 400 haemophiliacs in the country, more than a quarter found out they had been infected with HIV from blood products in the mid-1980s.
According to the psychiatrist, this made haemophiliacs very vulnerable. She said that they were the worst community who could have been later infected with Hepatitis C. In the event, 252 haemophiliacs were infected with the virus.
Ms Campion said many of the men had not received counselling prior to meeting her and the consequent depression which resulted was difficult to treat. She said some patients had gone into denial because they could not deal with the trauma of diagnosis.
A significant number abused alcohol, while others mistrusted their medical team and were delaying the treatment of bleeds with clotting agents.
Ms Campion said the haemophiliacs whom she counselled had major concerns with the hospital practice of burying people who died from Hepatitis C related illness in body bags.
Ms Campion said the diagnosis had often led to a lack of intimacy in marriage. Some partners had withdrawn so far from each other that they were effectively just friends. She contended what was required was a team of professionals to help such people get over the shock and trauma. This did not occur in these cases.
