Association de Défense des Victimes de l'Affaire du Sang Contaminé  - ADVASC

Association for the Defence of the Blood Scandal Victims - ADBSC

Les protagonistes de l' Affaire du Sang Contaminé et des Cabinets Dentaires Contaminés forment un Conglomérat International d'Intérêts, composé de Financiers, de Magistrats, des Politiciens, des Blouses Blanches, et de Dépravés.
Leur force réside dans la connaissance par chacun du passé de l'autre et dans leur appartenance à des Hiérarchies Parallèles.

This is the text of the letter sent last week by 97 researchers, physicians and public health workers to the French President, François Mitterrand, asking him to pardon the four physicians convicted last year for their part in the events surrounding the contamination of blood supplies in the mid-1980s with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV):

M. President - A French court has sentenced four doctors for the decisions and the measures that were collectively taken by various authorities in 1985 to stop contamination of haemophiliacs with the AIDS virus. Two of these doctors are in prison. On of them is the director of a major blood transfusion center, the other a scientist internationally recognized for his contribution to AIDS research.

We, doctors, scientists and public health workers from around the world, some of whom are personally affected by this drama, think that it is our duty to express our feeling of injustice and our concern about the possible consequences of this verdict on public health and biomedical research.

The verdict on these doctors was delivered after an unprecedented 'trial by the media', where sensationalism dominated to the detriment of accuracy, and passionate debate took the place of objective facts. Thus, in the absence of extended scientific expertise, punishment was opposed to the uncertainty of scientific knowledge at the time of the facts. We believe that such a verdict is unfair, and an inappropriate way of dealing with suffering born of scientific uncertainty. We also believe that it is deeply unjust to punish a few selected individuals for the lacunae and dysfunctions of our health system as a whole.

Furthermore, this verdict is worrying in that, under the influence of similar outside pressures, it could happen again in other cases involving decisions made on matters at the frontiers of scientific knowledge. Such sentences work against medical progress, because the fear of legal reprisals could then divert doctors and scientists from doing their duty and from taking the responsibilities that are theirs. As a result, medical research and patients would be deprived of the valuable contribution of devoted, highly skilled professionals.

The extent of infection of haemophiliacs with the AIDS virus in France is unfortunately analogous to that in other countries where the same therapeutic approaches were used. As in other countries, most contaminations cases occurred at the beginning of the 1980s, when science, medicine and technology were not yet able to prevent them. Throughtout the world, thousands of doctors and scientists were involved in the preparation and administration of anti-haemophilic factors, and in most countries undeniable delays occurred in the decision-making processes concerning this particular public health problem at various administrative, technological and clinical levels. Is it reasonable in such circumstances to attribute blame to a few individuals in the face of an almost universal health hazard, which involved so many men and women whose very aims in life are to help and to heal ?

Through numerous examples, the history of medicine has taught us that months, and often years, must pass before a scientific discovery is validated, recognized and integrated into the general consciousness. Only then can such discoveries be brought to bear upon decisions concerning public health. Humility, one of the prerequisites of progress, obliges us to recognize that, despite its fantastic evolution, the power of medical science is still less great and less immediate than popular hope and imagination would care to acknowledge. Our public health structures still have a long and arduous path of development and maturation ahead.

While affirming our solidarity and compassion for the haemophiliacs and their families stricken by AIDS, it is our duty to guard against any unjustified sentiment of mistrust against doctors and medical science, which would be counterproductive to public health. Thus, it is for the sake of public interest, M. President, that we wish to share our serious concern with you.

We hope that it will be possible for you to use your authority and power justly to appease past and present suffering and to prevent any wrongs that science and indifference might bring about in the future. A first step in this direction would be a presidential pardon.

Maurice ALGAZI, Rosemary ANCELLE-PARK, Birgitta ASJO, Francis BARIN, Michel BARME, Françoise BARRE-SINOUSSI, Henri BAYLON, Joseph BENICHOU, Gabriel BENICHOU, Annie BEZEAUD, Antoine BLANCHER, William A. BLATTNER, Philippe BLOT, Georges BOURROUILLOU, David BOUTTIER, Bernard BOVEN, Jean-Baptiste BRUNET, Yves CADROY, Jacques CAEN, Christiane CAHAN, Patrick CALVAS, Claudine CARANOBE, Robin W. CARRELL, Michel CHANZY, Gerard CHAOUAT, Francesca CHIODI, Pierre COLOMBIES, Antonio COUTINHO, Jean DAUSSET, Isabelle DE VINCENTI, Patrice DEBRE, Françoise DENIS, Jan DESMYTER, Vincent DEUBEL, Agnès DEVERGIE, André DODIN, Jean-François DORE, Jean-Claude DREYFUS, Colette DREYFUS-BRISAC, Jean DUCOS, Hervé DURAND, Eva Maria FENYO, Hervé FLEURY, Jean-Jacques FOURNEL, Jacques FROTTIER, Jean GAILLARD, Pierre GALANAUD, Pierre GARCON, Louis GAZZOLO, Alain Jean GEORGES, Marie-Claude GEORGES-COURBOT, Marc GIRARD, Eliane GLUCKMAN, Jean-Claude GLUCKMAN, Michel GOLDBERG, Patrick GOUBAU, Marie-Claude GUILLIN, André HERRAULT, Myra JENNINGS, Irène JUHAN-VAGUE, Phyllis J. KANKI, Michel KAZATCHKINE, André KIRN, David KLATZMANN, Jean-Pierre KOHEN, Henri KREIS, Jacques KRUH, Léon LE MINOR, Guy LESOURD, Rosette LIDEREAU, Pierre LORTHOLARY, William LOWENSTEIN, Jean LOYGUE, Herbert MARCOVICH, Michel MARTY, Christian MATHIOT, Philippe MONOD-BROCA, Gérard ORTH, Luiz PERREIRA DA SILVA, Georges PERES, Jacques PILLOT, Christian POLICARD, Jacques REYNES, Willy ROZENBAUM, Gabriella SCARLATTI, Gérard SCHAISON, Jorg SCHUPBACH, Pierre SIE, Winston SMILOVICI, Jean-Charles SOURNIA, Daniel TARANTOLA, Armand TAVITIAN, Alain TEDGUI, Pierre TESTAS, Pierre TIOLLAIS, Agnès ULLMAN, Elie WOLLMAN, Alice WOLLMAN.

NATURE - VOL 367 - 27 January 1994, page 312

Mairie de Paris
 Pr. LOYGUE Jean
AP-HP Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris APHP
http://dentist-dentiste.com/dsf/organigramme.pdf 

Fédération Française des Donneurs de Sang Bénévoles
CAHAN Christiane
http://dentist-dentiste.com/dsf/organigramme.pdf  N° CE1a