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Tuesday, May 31, 2005The Red Cross in Canada has pleaded guilty to distributing contaminated blood supplies which infected thousands of Canadians with HIV and hepatitis C. More than 3,000 people have died since getting the tainted blood in the 1980s. The blood scandal is widely regarded as one of the worst public health disasters in Canadian history. The organisation now faces a fine of up to C$5,000 ($4,000 £2,200), but charges of criminal negligence could be dropped as part of a deal with prosecutors. This old BBC story (from 2001) indicates the time frame in question was 1983-1985. The HIV virus was first identified in 1983. There were no blood tests for AIDS at the time. But, the Canadian Red Cross had already lost lawsuits over this because they failed to warn gay men away from donating blood - as the American Red Cross did. Neither story goes into detail as to why the Canadian Red Cross failed to screen high risk donors. Could it be they were afraid of being accused of discrimination? posted by Sydney on 5/31/2005 03:44:00 PM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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