Forty-three patients face a lifetime of uncertainty, waiting to see if they have been infected with an inevitably fatal, incurable brain disease.
The patients - 11 of them children - had operations last month in Auckland City Hospital during which surgeons used instruments previously used in brain surgeryon a woman now thought to have Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD).
This forum debate has now closed. Here is a selection of your views on the topic.
Dolly Not much of a choice for the hospital really, as some media vulture would no doubt have found out about it eventually and come up with a big scoop - don't pretend that the media has any concern for the people who have to live with this! It's just another story.
Rex Not enough information about health risks especially in the food chain raises suspicions that there is something wrong kep under cover. The public has just found out there are 4 cases of CJD in New Zealand besides the 43 suspects. Time to own up.
Molly Yes the hospital was right to inform these people of matters that concern them. No - it will help the patients not at all, and will probably only cause them unnecessary worry. Patients needed to be told only so that the hospital could not be accused of a cover-up in years to come. That's the world we live in now.
Karen Yes, they were right to release this. If they hadn't and it came out later it would have been perceived has a big cover up and it would have been made a even bigger deal and health bosses etc would have their heads on a chopping block, more than they are now!
