The File
France's National Blood Transfusion Center knowingly distributed HIV-contaminated blood products to hemophiliacs in the mid-1980s. Its former director, Michel Garretta, was convicted in 1992 alongside colleague Jean-Pierre Allain for knowingly distributing infected blood, resulting in as many as 1,000 new infections and 256 deaths documented at the time of trial. A second legal phase followed in 1999, when former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius and former Social Affairs Minister Georgina Dufoix were acquitted by France's Cour de Justice de la Republique, while former Secretary of State for Health Edmond Herve was convicted but given no sentence.
The Documented Record
1985: France's National Blood Transfusion Center, the CNTS, knowingly distributed HIV-contaminated blood products to hemophiliac patients. [DOCUMENTED]
October 23, 1992: A French court convicted former CNTS director Michel Garretta and sentenced him to four years in prison and a fine, for allowing AIDS-tainted blood to be given to hundreds of hemophiliacs, more than 250 of whom had died of AIDS by the time of sentencing. [DOCUMENTED]
The same trial convicted Jean-Pierre Allain alongside Garretta. Contemporaneous reporting documented as many as 1,000 new infections and 256 deaths tied to the case. [DOCUMENTED]
March 9, 1999: France's Cour de Justice de la Republique acquitted former Prime Minister Laurent Fabius and former Social Affairs Minister Georgina Dufoix. Former Secretary of State for Health Edmond Herve was convicted but received no sentence. [DOCUMENTED]
What the Record Does Not Establish
The record does not establish culpability on the part of the political officials tried in 1999 beyond what the court itself found, since two of the three were acquitted and the third received a conviction without penalty. The scandal proceeded through two legally distinct phases, the 1992 trial of medical officials and the 1999 trial of political officials, and the two should not be conflated as a single verdict or a single set of defendants.
Sources
- Ex-Blood Official Gets 4 Years in AIDS Scandal, Deseret News, 1992
- French court convicts three former officials in blood scandal, Los Angeles Times, 1992
- La Cour de Justice de la Republique a rendu son jugement dans l'affaire du sang contamine, Le Monde, 1999
Connected Files
COV-002 documents a comparable contaminated blood scandal in the United Kingdom.