CJD CARE

October 27, 1998

Headline: CJD FAMILIES CALL FOR CARE PROGRAMME

Wire Service: PA (PA News)

Date: Sun, Oct 25, 1998

publication, transfer or commerical exploitation of this information is

expressly forbidden.

By Eileen , Consumer Affairs Correspondent, PA News

The public inquiry into the BSE outbreak will today hear from the

families of those who have died from the human form of " mad cow " disease

call for improved care for victims.

The hearings, which began in March, will hear harrowing details from

families who watched their loved ones die from the effects of the

degenerative brain disease linked to infected meat.

Fifteen relatives of some of the 29 recorded cases of new variant

Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease will recount how family members lost their

memory, lashed out at their own children and suffered black depressions as

the incurable disease took hold.

The families want a national care programme to be introduced for victims

to ensure that they receive proper care as the illness progresses.

Dorothy Churchill, the mother of Britain's first and youngest victim of

the disease, 19-year-old , spoke of her hopes for the inquiry.

She said: " In a strange way we have always considered ourselves

fortunate to have been at the beginning of this tragic outbreak.

" In our opinion we didn't feel that the medical profession handled it

very well. We felt so isolated and after 's death we were definite

that we didn't want other families to feel the same. "

She and husband set up the Human BSE Support Group to offer advice

and information to other victims' families and began a campaign for the

public inquiry to be launched.

Dorothy continued: " This inquiry is the culmination of so much work. We

want the truth. We don't want a cover-up or to find a scapegoat. This will

be a big day for all the families.

" What we want now is a care programme put in place for future victims.

This is a fast-moving disease and plans should be in place for people's

care.

" An example of that is our case where our son's wheelchair didn't

actually arrive until three days after he died. "

Recommended Posts