Cancer tragedy can’t be a political cabaret

THE 208 women in the smear test scandal have already been ill-used enough without having their tragedy turned into a macabre political cabaret. At this point calling for token heads for instant gratification is far less important than taking care of the needs of the women and their families. Only when the truth has been established and the catastrophic failures identified in the system can we begin to apportion blame. Why did this happen and how do we stop it happening again? These will then be the priorities.

Political pyrotechnics may offer a pleasing distraction for those trying to shore up capital in a pre-election cycle, but they will soon fade and the injustice done to these women by their own State will be forgotten soon after the fireworks have all burned out.

Whether the sins were either of omission or commission, time will tell. Whatever the answer, historically the fate of women in this country at the hands of the State has been dismal, every impediment placed in the path of truth.

After the contaminated blood scandal we thought we had put an end to hounding ill women through the courts. Transparency and due process – just like justice – are a right, not an expensive luxury. Preventing monumental injustices like this requires having the full facts in the hands of the patient.

The Civil Liability Amendment Bill might have achieved precisely that had the Government not intervened last November. Where doctors might have been obligated to inform patients of their mistakes a change introduced by Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan made it voluntary as opposed to compulsory.

And so we have failed the women of this country once again; doctors bicker and 17 patients die.