Fury over vaccine abuse 'inaction'

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By Ralph Riegel

Thursday March 31 2005

INSTITUTIONAL detainees subjected to vaccine trials in the 1950s and 60s have been ignored by the Government's compensation commission and now a lobby group has threatened to take the issue to the European Court of Human Rights.

Last night, the Irish Survivors of Institutional Abuse International (ISIAI) confirmed that they've been informed the Ryan Commission - which continued the work of the Laffoy Commission - is unlikely to be able to process complaints from institutional detainees who were subjected to vaccine trials without permission.

The commission - which is already struggling to cope with the volume of claims to be processed - believes that it does not have the technical or research facilities to properly examine the vaccine issue.

However, the ISIAI argued that the vaccine trials for pharmaceutical companies were amongst the most upsetting and exploitative of the abuses suffered by those in state and Church institutions.

ISIAI chairman Tom Cronin said: "It is almost as if this issue is too damaging for anyone to deal with."

- Ralph Riegel

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