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Pastimes : Impeachment=" Insult to all Voters" -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lizzie Tudor who wrote (2260)	2/24/1999 8:20:00 PM
From: JBL	Respond to of 2390

REUTERS Wednesday February 24 5:52 PM ET By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group of Canadians who say they were infected with the AIDS virus and hepatitis C from imported U.S. blood in the early 1980s said Wednesday they plan to sue the United States, and perhaps even President Clinton. They say the blood was taken from inmates at prisons in Louisiana and Arkansas during the time that Clinton was Arkansas governor and sold not just to Canada but to other countries. They are also asking the Justice Department to investigate whether prison and health officials acted criminally in failing to screen the blood and warn of its source. ''It is time we hold those responsible for the collection and distribution of prison blood and plasma in the U.S. that was known to be contaminated with hepatitis C and was shipped to Canada and elsewhere,'' Michael McCarthy, a Canadian who says he is infected with HIV and hepatitis, told a news conference. The group of 400 Canadians filed a C$1 billion class-action claim against the Canadian government and two companies in late January and vowed then to expand their case over the border. David Harvey, lead Canadian attorney for the group, said they had not decided just who to sue or on what grounds. ''We are putting together a lawsuit to parallel what we are doing in Canada,'' he said. It will focus on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates blood products, as well as authorities in Louisiana and Arkansas. The FDA declined comment. But it has said in the past that there was no way to know in the early 1980s that the blood was contaminated. The group said the prisoners sold their blood, which was collected by an Arkansas company called Health Management Associates Inc. (NYSE:HMA - news), which sold some blood to Toronto-based Connaught Laboratories. ''From there, the plasma was pooled and turned into a special blood product and then sent to the Canadian Red Cross, which distributed it to thousands of hemophiliacs,'' the group said in a statement. Hemophiliacs' blood fails to clot properly and they need regular infusions of blood products. In 1982 the FDA advised blood distributors not to use blood collected in prisons, and closed the Cummins blood center in 1984 because of a lack of control, but allowed it to reopen later. Clinton was governor of Arkansas at the time, and the group says there is evidence he knew what was going on. Harvey said the group would consider adding his name to any lawsuit. The Canadians are joining with U.S. hemophiliacs who have been asking for Justice Department action for years. They say between them they have documents proving officials knew the prison blood was tainted with some kind of virus but allowed its collection and sale. ''We believe the documents prove the federal codes ... were broken and that criminal acts took place,'' Dana Kuhn, a member of the U.S. group who has HIV, said. ''For the past seven years the government has ignored our requests.'' Harvey said even though HIV had not been clearly identified, and hepatitis C was not identified until 1989, officials should have known the blood was contaminated. He said health officials knew there was some kind of virus circulating in people with tattoos, people who had homosexual sex, and intravenous drug users. Charges have been filed against health officials in France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Japan over tainted blood. In France three ministers, including former prime minister Laurent Fabius, are accused of manslaughter. ''Why is the United States different from Europe?'' Harvey asked.