CJD warnings ignored

A GROWTH hormone infected with cancer was distributed to patients in France despite warnings that it could cause Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease. More than 60 French children with growth problems who received the hormone have since died from CJD.

The Pasteur Institute, France’s prestigious medical laboratory, was yesterday accused of continuing to sell the product even though doctors had warned of the dangers. Dr Daniel Hartmann, a biologist who worked at the institute for 20 years, said: "Even after cancer cells were found in batches of hormones about to go on the market, our management refused to destroy them. Instead, they were sent out to hospitals for use on patients."