L’indemnisation par la solidarité nationale des dommages imputables à des contaminations d’origine transfusionnelle

Abstract

Until 2009, the national effort to prevent transfusion contamination was aimed exclusively at the human immunodeficiency virus. Article 67 of the law of 17th December, 2008 instituted a new procedure for the out of court settlement of litigation arising from the contamination of blood transfusions by hepatitis C virus. The application of these successive legislative regulations is bound to raise questions. With the special systems adopted in the matter of transfusion contamination, damages attributable to mandatory vaccinations, biomedical research, serious health threats or treatment with extractive human growth hormone, the legislator has sized up the usefulness of extending the protection given by the health insurance system to a larger area of national concern, that of the health risk.