The tainted blood affair is one of the biggest health scandals in France. Between 1984 and 1985, 2,000 hemophiliacs contracted the AIDS virus (HIV) following contaminated blood transfusions. These products would have been voluntarily distributed. Summary of the case.
the tainted blood scandal burst it April 25, 1991 in France. That day, the journalist Anne-Marie Casteretreveals that the National Blood Transfusion Center (CNTS) has knowingly distributed, 1984 to 1985, contaminated blood products to hemophiliacs. More than 2,000 patients have thus been infected with the AIDS virus (HIV) and speak hepatitis C virus. Several doctors and ministers were implicated and appeared in court. Key dates, number of victims, number of dead, ministers involved, result of the conviction… Back to a health affair mixed with a political scandal which marked France.
Key Dates of the Tainted Blood Scandal
► End of 1984: the AIDS epidemic spreads at high speed. We hear more and more about her, especially in France. We suspect a mode of transmission of the disease by blood and the country’s blood reserves, from blood donors, are potentially contaminated (there is no no donor screening test at this time). To avoid contamination with AIDS, it would then be necessary to treat the collected plasmas (heating the blood to high temperature inactivates the virus) before carrying out a blood transfusion or, at the very least, not to use untreated products. This is in any case what health professionals recommend at the time. But the treatment capacities being insufficient in France, the Blood Transfusion Center (CNTS), in consultation with members of the government, authorizes the circulation of stocks of blood contaminated with the AIDS virusfor hemophiliacs requiring a blood transfusion.
► Between 1984 and 1985: several thousand haemophiliacs are treated with these products, contaminated and left on the market in good conscience. This is the start of one of biggest health scandals of the end of the 20th century. The decision to use only heated (and therefore virus-free) blood products was only taken in July 1985 and implemented on October 1, 1985. In the same year, in 1985, the Prime Minister, Laurent Fabius, announces mandatory screening of blood donors from August 1, but it’s already too late: 95% of hemophiliacs treated are infected with the AIDS virus or the hepatitis C virus.
“According to statistics, all our products for treating hemophiliacs are contaminated with the AIDS virus”
► April 25, 1991: Anne-Marie Casteret, French journalist and doctor by training, makes public, in the weekly “The Thursday Event”, a confidential report of a meeting that took place a few years earlier at the National Blood Transfusion Center (CNTS). According to this report, the CNTS would have knowingly distributed contaminated blood products by the AIDS virus to hemophiliacs. Moreover, the same year, in 1991, the CNTS wrote it black on white in a press article: “According to statistics, all our products for treating hemophiliacs are contaminated with the AIDS virus“. The general public then becomes aware of this affair. The media world too.
► June 22, 1992: justice takes over the case. A first trial opens and four doctorsincluding the former director of the CNTS, Michael Garretta, are tried for deception and lack of information on the inherent risk of blood products. The first verdict of the trial falls. The doctors judged were given a prison sentence and Michel Garretta was sentenced to 4 years in prison. But these doctors blame the government. The victims also: for them, the members of the government of the time were necessarily informed. Financial reasons are mentioned. The targets are: Edmond HerveSecretary of State for Health at the time of the events, Georgina DufoixMinister of Social Affairs and Laurent Fabius, Prime Minister. All three are sent to the Court of Justice of the Republic for complicity in poisoning and “manslaughter”. Laurent Fabius is also being prosecuted for the death of three people and for the contamination of two others. Also, the commission of instruction criticizes Georgina Dufoix for having slowed down, for financial reasons, the establishment of systematic screening.
► Between 1992 and 1996: associations of victims are multiplying. In 1996, the total amount of compensation for victims and their families was estimated at 17 billion francs. These indemnities are financed by the State and by insurers.
► February 9, 1999: the trial of the three former ministers (Laurent Fabius, Georgina Dufoix and Edmond Hervé) opens before the Court of Justice of the Republic for “complicity in poisoning” and “manslaughter”.
► March 9, 1999: the Court of Justice of the Republic innocent Laurent Fabius and Georgina Dufoix. Only the Secretary of State Edmond Herve is sentenced for having delayed the generalization of screening, playing a role in the absence of selection of blood donors and in the belated ban on non-heated products, but he is finally released from the sentence.
► June 18, 2003: the last procedures end with a general dismissal confirmed by the Court of Cassation. The High Court holds that the crime of poisoning can only be validated if the perpetrator acted with intent to kill. Thus, the proof of knowledge by the doctors of the deadly nature of the blood products not being reported, the charge of poisoning cannot be retained.
► This case marks the total overhaul of the blood transfusion system since after the tainted blood scandal, drastic measures were taken to select donors and have healthy blood.
What is the number of victims in the tainted blood case?
The victims are mainly people with hemophilia and hospitalized patients requiring a blood transfusion between 1984 and 1985. In its confidential report, the CNTS acknowledges that one out of two people who received a blood transfusion during this period was contaminated, i.e. nearly 2,000 peopleamong them children. 40% of victims died (is around 800 deaths) according to an article by Jean-Michel Dumay “The trial of the ministers in the tainted blood case” published in Le Monde on February 9, 1999.
Who was Minister of Health at the time of the tainted blood scandal?
It was Georgina Dufoix who was Minister of Social Affairs and National Solidarity. “I feel entirely responsible, but I don’t feel guilty.“, said Georgina Dufoix, January 31, 1992 on the set of 7/7. A formula that has become very famous in the business. Edmond Herve was attached to it as Secretary of State for Health. Both were implicated in the contaminated blood case for “complicity in poisoning” and “manslaughter”, with Laurent Fabiusformer Prime Minister.
Who was convicted in the tainted blood case?
For the first trial, in 1992:
- Michael Garretta, former director of the National Center for Blood Transfusion, was sentenced to 4 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 francs. On October 28, 1992, Michel Garretta was imprisoned.
- Jean Pierre Allainresponsible until 1986 for the Research and Development department of the CNTS and for hemophilic products and referring clinician, was sentenced to 4 years in prison, 2 of which were suspended and 2 others for failing to assist a person in danger.
- Jacques Rouxformer Director General of Health, is given a three-year suspended prison sentence.
- Robert Netterformer director of the national health laboratory, is released.
For the second trial in 1999:
- Laurent Fabius is cleared
- Georgina Dufoix is cleared
- Edmond Herve is condemned, but exempted from punishment.
What were the diseases transmitted in the tainted blood scandal?
The AIDS virus (HIV) was mainly transmitted during transfusions with contaminated blood. But also the virusHepatitis C.
Who is Anne-Marie Casteret, the scandal whistleblower?
Anne-Marie Casteret, born November 3, 1948 in Sétif is a French journalist and doctor by training. She was the first to reveal the tainted blood affair in the Thursday Event in 1991, backed by compelling evidence. In 1992, Anne-Marie Casteret published a book entitled The Blood Affair, in which she describes the contours of this health scandal and she also evokes the suffering of the infected people. She died May 20, 2006 in Saint-Nazaire following a Hodgkin’s disease.
Sources: INA Archives (updated April 2021) / Diplomatic World Archive (February 1999)