A report to be considered by the Cabinet today is expected to recommend that the State should not take legal action against international pharmaceutical companies arising from the manufacture of contaminated blood products, writes Martin Wall
The report, which contains legal advice provided for the Government on the issue by a law firm in the United States, will be brought to the Cabinet today by the Minister for Health, Mary Harney.
Senior officials of the Department of Health are to brief the Irish Haemophilia Society (IHS) in the afternoon on the Cabinet's decision in relation to suing international pharmaceutical companies.
For many years the IHS has been strongly supportive of the State suing the international pharmaceutical companies.
More than 80 haemophiliacs have died as a result of receiving blood products contaminated with the HIV virus.
In March this year, in advance of a meeting with Ms Harney, the IHS strongly criticised the Department of Health over what it said was its failure to make a decision on the issue of legal action against the pharmaceutical companies.
It maintained that the Department of Health had delayed such a decision for four years.
In July 2003, a New York law firm approached the Government unilaterally and offered to take a case against international pharmaceutical companies on behalf of the State on a "no foal, no fee" basis. It is understood that the firm sought to take a percentage of any award made against the pharmaceutical companies.
However, nothing came of the offer put forward by the US firm to the Government.
In a statement issued last March, the Department of Health said: "Initial advices received from counsel appointed by the Attorney General [ had] raised serious concerns in relation to the proposal."
The Department of Health said the Attorney General had recommended that independent opinion be obtained in the United States in respect of any proposed litigation against the international pharmaceutical companies.
Ms Harney initially said she wanted to have final legal opinion on the issue by the end of May.
However, a final report, including advice provided by a US legal firm engaged by the Chief State Solicitor's Office, will be presented to the Cabinet today.
Speaking last March, Ms Harney said it would be very foolish to pursue legal action against the international pharmaceutical companies if the State didn't have much chance of winning. "We would be putting the taxpayer at a huge expense to pursue litigation for the sake of it," she said.
Some sources have suggested haemophiliacs could press the Government to establish an inquiry into the role of the pharmaceutical companies in the event of a legal action not going ahead. Some sources said that such an inquiry had been promised by the Government a number of years ago.