At the conclusion of a federal inquiry, Canadian Justice Horace Krever has issued a report advocating that the Canadian government take responsibility for the tainted blood and blood products given out during the previous decade. In the report, Krever writes that the more than 1,000 Canadians who contracted HIV as a result of those blood products should be compensated without having to file lawsuits. In addition, tens of thousands of people became infected with Hepatitis C, and Krever notes that those people also deserve compensation. The report, which must receive government approval before any of the suggestions can be carried out, contains 50 recommendations for overhauling Canada's blood system. Krever notes that many of the "problems stemmed from the way public health authorities dragged their feet in implementing new safeguards. There were delays in screening blood donors and in setting up procedures for notifying blood recipients." Krever's report also points to the Canadian Red Cross Society, which he says should have taken more definitive action sooner.

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