State is f ighting this woman into the ground. We will defeat them

CervicalCheck victims accuse Varadkar of joining forces with US labs

TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar has abandoned terminally-ill women caught up in the CervicalCheck scandal, a lawyer representing a number of them has claimed.

And rather than financially helping the women as Mr Varadkar promised in an RTÉ interview earlier this year, the solicitor says the State has joined with the US labs to fight the victims.

Speaking about Ruth Morrissey, the terminally-ill Limerick woman whose case against the HSE and US labs was adjourned this week until the end of January, Cian O’Carroll told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘The State have made clear that they intend to fight this woman into the ground.

‘And we intend to beat them. It should never have been like this. Ruth referred to it when she was giving testimony in court, really personal evidence. She told the judge with quiet dignity: “I was given to understand that I wouldn’t have to give this evidence”.’

Mr O’Carroll was referring to Mr Varadkar’s promise made on RTÉ’s Six One news on May 11 when he said that no women would have to go to court to claim damages for their missed cancers under the CervicalCheck programme.

In the interview, the Taoiseach told anchor Keelin Shanley: ‘We’re .... going to endeavour to settle any of the outstanding legal cases through mediation so nobody has to go to court unless they choose to do so. The State will settle and pursue the lab later.

‘So essentially the State will be on the side of the plaintiff, on the side of the woman, mediating with her and if we have to pursue the lab later we will. What we propose to do is offer mediation in every case so that women can avoid having going to court, the trauma of a court hearing.’

But Mr Varadkar has since backtracked saying he ‘should have been more clear’ and that negligence has not yet been established in relation to some tests, so ‘mediation was not always possible’.

Speaking on the High Court delays to Ms Morrissey’s case, Lorraine Walsh, one of the 221 women affected, told the MoS: ‘It’s terrible that she’s in a situation where they seem to be splitting hairs, and here is a woman who is so ill and is fighting to get what she deserves. The unfortunate thing is that there will be more of these stories.’ Ms Walsh said she met with Judge Charles Meenan, who is tasked with establishing an alternative mechanism to the courts for resolving clinical negligence cases. His work is due to be completed in October.

‘It’s not an easy task either,’ added Ms Walsh. ‘I do understand that he has to make sure that the State is covered as well and it’s not just a blank cheque that will be written. It is a tricky one because every woman will have to prove negligence in their case. It’s not cut and dried.’ Mr O’Carroll believes Mr Varadkar’s backtracking is blatant. ‘He has tried to wriggle out of it but people remember what he said,’ he added. ‘The women remember what he said.

‘He made three promises that evening. One, that no other woman would have to go through what Vicky Phelan went through.

‘Two, that the State would settle cases with the women and would then pursue the laboratories. Three, that the State would stand by the women in mediation. Instead and incredibly what they have done is defend these cases with the laboratories. They have actually joined legal teams with the laboratories to fight the women.

‘It’s a very difficult time for Ruth. She’s undergoing intensive chemo/ radiation. But she’s not going to go begging to him (Varadkar) to stand by his promise.

‘They want to keep a lid on the thing, and keep talking about normal amounts of false negatives. What they can’t explain is why 18 women are dead and many others have had hysterectomies and other terrible consequences.’

The High Court this week agreed to adjourn Ms Morrissey’s case after hearing they need more time for their experts to carry out further testing after the labs contested their evidence.

A spokesman for the Taoiseach said the Government is committed to using mediation to settle cases.

‘He’s tried to wriggle out of it but we remember’