TORONTO - A Superior Court judge has refused to issue a verdict in a long-standing trial in which a drug firm and several physicians stand accused of negligence for giving patients a tainted blood product.
Lawyers for three of the accused doctors had alleged the Crown didn't present enough evidence to prove its case.
They had asked the court to issue a directed verdict, but Justice Mary Lou Benotto has declined the motion.
"She really didn't give detailed reasons,'' Michael Neville, the lawyer representing Dr. Donald Boucher, said Thursday.
Brian Greenspan, who represents Armour Pharmaceutical Co. but wasn't involved in the motion for a verdict, said he wasn't surprised by the judge's decision.
"Seldom are directed verdicts granted,'' Greenspan said. "The standard is very low.''
In one of Canada's biggest public health scandals, Armour Pharmaceutical Co. and four doctors were charged with negligence for allegedly giving hemophilia patients an HIV-infected blood-clotting product in the 1980s and early 1990s.
The doctors and the drug company have pleaded not guilty in the case.
Defence lawyers for the accused all declined the opportunity to present evidence in court Thursday.
"There's no case to answer as far as we're concerned,'' Greenspan said.
Outside the courtroom, Crown lawyer Michael Bernstein declined to comment.
More than 1,000 Canadians became infected with blood-borne HIV, and up to 20,000 others contracted hepatitis C after receiving tainted blood products.
Both sides must now submit their final arguments before the end of July.
Court is scheduled to resume Sept. 10.
