A Case of Bad Blood by Rosemary Daly with Paul Cunningham - The story behind the greatest medical disaster in the history of the Irish State

A Case of Bad Blood for the first time catalogues the tragedy inflicted on Ireland's 400-member haemophilia community in which more than 100 contracted HIV and more than 260 contracted hepatitis C from contaminated blood products. 81 have died to date - including one man this year.

The story is told through the eyes of Rosemary Daly who started as an employee of the Irish Haemophilia Society but became an intimate friend of those abandoned by the State as well as one of their champions in pursuing successive Governments for justice.

This compelling narrative is anchored in the lives of the people directly affected by this disaster and who came to dominate the Lindsay Tribunal hearings in 2000 and 2001. Through her work, Rosemary Daly became deeply involved with people who were marginalised not just by the deep stigma of having contracted a virus like HIV but also by a State apparatus which didn't seem to care. A Case of Bad Blood is the inside story of people who died in brutal circumstances but also those who fought back and made sure their voice was heard.

Rosemary Daly's book also details the lengthy battles with successive coalition Government's who usually chose to do as little as possible to compensate for a tragedy inflicted by State agencies. For more than a decade, the contaminated blood scandal played its way through legal and political circles without ever being resolved.
A Case of Bad Blood is a judgement on those actions as well as an insight in how tribunals, multi-million compensation deals and apologies were secured. The official battle took place against the backdrop of Rosemary Daly establishing a service to allow people with haemophilia die at home with dignity.

A Case of Bad Blood is not a history of haemophilia in Ireland nor a autobiography, but Rosemary Daly's page-turning and straight-talking account of how she witnessed a tiny Irish community abandoned by politicians and the medical profession and became involved in assisting their fight for justice.

Author: Rosemary Daly was appointed AIDS Coordinator by Irish Haemophilia Society in 1989 and later became its Administrator. She negotiated with 5 Ministers for Health on haemophilia issues. She also helped establish the Lindsay Tribunal, secured multi-million euro settlement for people with haemophilia and offered comfort to more than 60 who died from illnesses related to their HIV and hepatitis C status.
Co-Author: Paul Cunningham is a Correspondent with RTE News. He covered the Lindsay Tribunal from its preliminary hearings in 1999 to publication of its report in 2002. He won ESB National Radio Journalist of the Year (2000) and was reporter on documentary "Bad Blood" which won the News and Current Affairs category at the Irish Film and Television Awards (2002).

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