CJD families seek truth on BSE link
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Your support makes all the difference.The families of the people who have died from the human form of mad cow disease yesterday called for a full public inquiry into the link between "new- variant" Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and BSE.
In a question-and-answer session at the end of an emotional one-day conference at the University of Warwick, organised by the CJD Support Network, families and friends of victims were given a chance to grill the professionals.
"Do you think it's right for a government to monitor itself on this problem, or do you think there should be a public inquiry?" asked one woman. Silence.
She persisted: "Is there someone up there who can answer our question?".
Eventually, Professor John Collinge, an honorary consultant in neurology at St Mary's Hospital and the only speaker who dared sit in the firing line, mustered a reply: "I think there is a growing case for having an independent food agency, certainly," he said.
The day was designed as an opportunity for carers of CJD victims to hear about the latest research - and about 200 people travelled across the country to do so.
Among the speakers was Gerard Callaghan who reduced the auditorium to tears with his account of caring for his brother Maurice, when he was dying of the new-variant disease, known as v-CJD. He spoke of how his parents had sat at Maurice's bedside "longing to change places in the bed, as they felt it should be, and not watching helplessly as their child slipped cruelly from their care".
The inevitable question "should we eat beef" arose - most people had already voted with their dishes at lunchtime, shrinking from the beef lasagne. Professor Collinge replied that we could be "fairly confident" in eating beef, adding hastily: "That's not saying that it can't occur in a one-in-a-million chance."
A member of the audience exploded. "This gentleman has children," she said, turning to the man who had asked the question. "If you stuck to my advice you would definitely err on the side of caution. It may be a chance in a million but my God, do you want to be the father of that child?"
Turning back to address the panel she raged: "I really wish you wouldn't make such downright statements that it's safe. It can't be."
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