Tainted blood verdict angers victim=
s
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Suzanne Goldman and Shannon Kari |
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Calgary Herald and CanWest News Service |
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
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Three former Canadian health officials, a U.S.
pharmaceutical company and one of its former executives have been acquitted=
in
the first criminal trial related to Canada's tainted blood tragedy that left
thousands infected with HIV or hepatitis C.
Dr. Roger Perrault, 70, Dr. Wark Boucher, 66, D=
r.
John Furesz, 79, Armour Pharmaceutical Co. and its former vice-president Dr.
Michael Rodell, 74, were each facing four charges of criminal negligence and
one count of commission of a common nuisance.
Armour was also charged with violating the Food=
and
Drugs Act.
All defendants were acquitted Monday following a
19-month trial.
In Alberta, news of the verdict delivered a har=
sh
blow to victims suffering as a result of contaminated blood products.
"There's no justice in this country. I'm
shocked and I'm angry," said Vikki Boddy of Lethbridge, who was infect=
ed
with hepatitis C during cancer surgery in 1984.
"And even worse, the next time it happens again, a judge has already said it's OK to kill the Canadian public."<= o:p>
For others, the decision has quelled all hope t=
hat
any party will be held criminally responsible for the scandal.
"It is frustrating. I don't think it's rig=
ht
that Canada allows lies and criminal politics to go on," said Calgarian
Brenda Assailly.
The mother of three has been living with hepati=
tis
C for 29 years after contracting it through a blood transfusion.
Lawyers involved in class-action lawsuits
pertaining to the scandal said they suspect many victims will be disappoint=
ed
by the judgment, but will be better served through civil proceedings.
"The issue has been dealt with through the
civil courts and I think there's been accountability through the civil
courts," said Calgary lawyer Clint Docken, who represents 200 victims =
of
the tainted blood scandal.
Vaughn Marshall, a Calgary lawyer who is leading
one of the class-action cases, said the $1-billion federal compensation pac=
kage
approved in Alberta in June for victims left out of previous settlements wi=
ll
make it easier for them to move on with their lives.
"The civil case is going to deliver far mo=
re
justice to individuals than a criminal verdict ever could," Marshall s=
aid.
The ruling was a stunning loss for the Crown and
the RCMP, after a nearly 20-month-long trial and five-year police
investigation. The verdicts issued Monday by Ontario Superior Court Justice
Mary Lou Benotto effectively declared the four accused innocent.
"The burden of proof in a criminal case is
proof beyond a reasonable doubt. To acquit the accused on this basis, howev=
er,
would be to damn with faint praise," said Benotto. "The allegatio=
ns
of criminal conduct on the part of these men and this corporation were not =
only
unsupported by the evidence, they were disproved," she concluded.
More than 1,000 people were infected with HIV f=
rom
tainted blood in Canada in the 1980s and as many as 20,000 others contracted
hepatitis C.
The criminal charges related to the HIV infecti= on of four people in B.C. and Alberta who received the Armour HT-Factorate blo= od clotting product in 1986 and 1987. Only one of the victims is still alive.<= o:p>
At the time of the alleged offences, Perrault w=
as
the director of the Canadian Red Cross blood transfusion service. Boucher a=
nd
Furesz were top officials at the Bureau of Biologics, a Health Canada agency
that regulated blood products.
The Crown alleged that the defendants were awar=
e of
the potential risks from the product and did not take the necessary steps to
protect hemophiliacs before the HT Factorate was recalled by Armour in Dece=
mber
1987.
Benotto described the tainted blood infections =
as a
tragedy, although she rejected the Crown theory that the defendants did not=
act
properly in assessing health risks for hemophiliacs receiving the blood
products.
"The conduct examined in detail for over
one-and-a-half years confirms reasonable, responsible and professional acti=
ons
and responses during a difficult time," said the judge.
As the judge read out the acquittals Monday
afternoon, there were audible sighs of disbelief from representatives of the
Canadian Hemophilia Society in the courtroom.
"We are shocked," said the society's =
John
Plater. "We don't know how she could say their conduct was professiona=
l or
reasonable. She really thought they did a good job."
Plater referred to Benotto's decision as
"ludicrous" and urged the Crown to appeal.
Edward Greenspan, who represented Perrault,
rejected a suggestion by the Hemophilia Society that the defence had a legal
"dream team" that was able to outmatch the Crown during the trial=
.
"The prosecution had untold money to
spend," said Greenspan. "The Crown called over a hundred witnesse=
s.
The bottom line is there was no criminal conduct," he stressed.
The Crown was unavailable for comment.
sgoldman@theherald.canwest.com
� The Calgary Herald 200=
7