This is one of the greatest health scandals France has experienced in its history. The contaminated blood affair, which affects several countries but particularly France, contains all the elements to be a major event in our country’s history. Indeed, political and financial scandals are added to the health scandal (the transfusion of blood contaminated with the AIDS virus). This is a mixture whose impact is still felt today. Here is a summary of the contaminated blood affair. Transmitted diseases, the role of journalists and politicians, figures, convictions, number of victims, consequences for society: discover how the contaminated blood affair has changed the French medical, political, and legal landscape.
How did the contaminated blood scandal break out in France?
The contaminated blood scandal officially broke out in 1991 through the initiative of a journalist, Anne-Marie Casteret, who unveiled a disastrous health practice. However, the scandal actually began much earlier. The world quickly raised suspicions about blood transmission of the disease after discovering the first cases of AIDS in the early 1980s. As early as 1983, several health professionals recommended heating blood at high temperatures before transfusing it to hemophiliacs. This required treatment capabilities that were insufficient in France at the time. Between 1984 and 1985, the National Blood Transfusion Center ignored these recommendations and continued distributing contaminated blood products to hemophiliacs. While some pointed out negligence in explaining this situation, others quickly mentioned the related financial stakes.
Which diseases did contaminated transfusions transmit?
While AIDS is better understood today, this wasn’t the case during the contaminated blood transfusions. In the 1980s, research on AIDS (HIV) was still in its early stages. People often underestimated the disease’s danger and failed to fully identify at-risk populations and modes of transmission. However, it didn’t take long to discover the mode of AIDS transmission and realize that the virus posed a significant danger to blood transfusions. Hemophiliacs often associate the contaminated blood scandal with AIDS transmission, but these transfusions also spread other diseases like hepatitis.
Who revealed the contaminated blood scandal?
Journalist Anne-Marie Casteret deserves credit for uncovering the contaminated blood scandal. On April 25, 1991, the French journalist, who was trained as a doctor, revealed a confidential report of a meeting held a few years earlier at the National Blood Transfusion Center (CNTS) in the weekly magazine “l’Evénement du Jeudi.” The public then became aware of this affair and discovered the main aspects of the medical scandal. Very quickly, several journalists began investigating. The health scandal was followed by a financial scandal, then a political scandal. The main political leaders of the time were attacked for their contradictory decisions and called upon to explain themselves.
Who was the Minister of Health during the contaminated blood scandal?
The contaminated blood scandal primarily targets Laurent Fabius, who held positions as Minister of Budget under François Mitterrand from 1981 to 1983, Minister of Industry and Research from 1983 to 1984, and Prime Minister from 1984 to 1986. His name is often associated with Edmond Hervé, Minister of Health from 1983 to 1985, and Georgina Dufoix. This affair also implicated the French politician, who served as Minister of Social Affairs and National Solidarity from 1984 to 1986. Georgina Dufoix declared in November 1991, just a few months after the scandal’s revelation, that she felt deeply responsible but not guilty, a statement that became famous as “responsible but not guilty.”
What are the figures for the contaminated blood scandal?
Hemophiliacs, who needed blood transfusions in the early 1980s, were the main victims. During the same period, the number of hospitalized patients also increased. In total, several thousand people received potentially contaminated blood transfusions. In its confidential report, the CNTS acknowledged that one in two people who received a blood transfusion was infected, or nearly 2,000 people, including children. More than 1,000 HIV-positive and sick people, 66 widows, and 77 orphans had already received initial compensation when the scandal broke in 1991.
Victims’ associations gradually emerged to demand truth, justice, and compensation. By the end of 1991, 4,000 people were able to prove they had received a contaminated transfusion, and those who were HIV-positive received compensation. The disease affected more than 4,400 hemophiliacs in 1999. 2,000 of them had developed the disease. 40% had died.
Who was convicted in the contaminated blood trial?
In 1992, a long judicial procedure began against those responsible for the contaminated blood affair, supported by victims’ associations. During the first trial in criminal court in 1992, the administration and the CNTS (National Blood Transfusion Center) were sanctioned. A year later, the verdict was confirmed on appeal, and the state’s fault was recognized. Michel Garretta, former director of the CNTS, and Jean-Pierre Allain, former head of the CNTS research department, were sentenced to four years in prison, including two years of non-suspended sentences. In 1994, the Cassation Court intervened in the procedure.
The Court of Justice of the Republic opened the trial of former political leaders implicated in the contaminated blood scandal in 1999, trying them for “involuntary manslaughter.” The Court of Justice of the Republic acquitted Laurent Fabius, just as it did Georgina Dufoix. The Republic Court of Justice found only Edmond Hervé guilty of involuntary manslaughter, but exempted him from punishment.
Were the victims of the contaminated blood compensated?
Hemophiliacs and hospitalized patients who received contaminated blood transfusions received compensation thanks to the work of victims’ associations. The estimated total compensation for victims and their families in 1996 was 17 billion francs. The state itself financed a significant portion of these 17 billion francs, while insurers contributed another part.
What consequences did the contaminated blood scandal have?
The contaminated blood scandal had significant consequences due to its scale and severity.
Political level: The state failed in its protective role and as a guarantor of public health. A sense of distrust towards the state developed in public opinion. The responsibility of political decision-makers was also questioned.
Medical level: The contaminated blood scandal created a rift in the medical world between doctors and their leaders capable of concealing information. Here too, mistrust developed between different links in the medical chain, including between patients and healthcare professionals. Many doctors, for example, found themselves confronted with patients infected by blood transfusions that they themselves had prescribed.
Legal level: In the aftermath of the health scandal, a constitutional crisis occurred. It led to the creation of the Court of Justice of the Republic.
