Canada: Politicians Reassured Over HIV

Past Canadian federal and provincial health ministers have been assured that they personally have nothing to fear from Judge Horace Krever's Commission of Inquiry into the Blood System in Canada, which is investigating the contaminated blood products scandal (Marketletter April 29).

Last December 21, 45 notices naming 95 people, government organizations, the Red Cross and four drugmakers (Armour, Baxter Corp, Bayer Inc and Connaught Labs) were issued with notices by the Commission under Section 13 of the Federal Inquiries Act, which states that any person or organization must be informed in advance if they are to be named in "allegations of potential misconduct" in the Commission's final report.

80 of these people and groups are opposing the notices, saying that if misconduct is assigned to them they could face criminal charges and destruction of their reputations. In fact, the notices cannot be used in civil or criminal courts, but Connaught Labs lawyer Stephen Goudge said the findings could be "tantamount to criminal or civil liability," adding that royal commissions are not supposed to be trials.