Stephen Teap has hit out at Taoiseach Micheal Martin over what he described as the Fianna Fail leader’s “so-called apology” over the death of his wife Irene.
On Thursday Mr Teap said the Government had his spouse’s blood on their hands after settling his High Court action against two labs and the HSE over misread smear tests.
Later that evening the Taoiseach said there was “no defence” for what happened with the CervicalCheck controversy acknowledging Mr Teap’s loss was “devastating”.
READ MORE: Ireland braced for Sunday weather chaos as Met Eireann issues multiple warnings amid -10C snow blast
Late on Friday night Mr Teap retweeted a video clip from Virgin Media’s Tonight show shared on its Twitter page showing Mr Martin’s reaction to the case.
The dad-of-two – who has been to the forefront of the CervicalCheck campaign and co-founded the 221+ support group for those affected – appeared unimpressed by Mr Martin’s words.
Hinting he had not heard from Mr Martin directly Mr Teap wrote: “Ah, so this was the so-called “apology” from the Taoiseach people have been talking about today.
“Aren’t I lucky I stumbled across this by accident on Twitter or I would never have heard it.”
Irene died of cervical cancer in 2017, months before the CervicalCheck scandal was exposed by Vicky Phelan, 48, who died of the illness last month.
Irene, 35, had been diagnosed with stage two cancer in September 2015 – having received negative smear test results in 2010 and 2013.
In 2018 it was disclosed that more than 200 women who used the screening programme, and later diagnosed with cancer, had not been told their previous results had been audited or in some cases misinterpreted.
Mr Teap’s court action was settled in a rare case where two laboratories – Clinical Pathology Laboratories and MedLab Pathology – admitted a breach of their duty of care in misreading tests.
Speaking on the steps of the High Court Mr Teap said: “The blood of my wife and the incredible friends I’ve made who have passed away is on the Government’s hands and those politicians who have failed to listen.”
Mr Teap said justice for his wife was “preventing the HSE and the laboratories from burying the truth along with her”, adding if the slides were read correctly “she would be alive today”.
Asked for his reaction on the Virgin Media One current affairs show Mr Martin said: “First of all, I fully understand where Stephen Teap is coming from. What happened to him and his family is absolutely devastating. In terms of the CervicalCheck scandal, it shouldn’t have happened, there is no defence for what happened.
“And the labs today have admitted that their misreading of these tests were a causative factor in Irene Teap’s death.
“Our sincere sympathies and apologies go to Stephen Teap and his family.”
Mr Teap took the action on his own behalf and for his sons Oscar and Noah who were aged four and two when their mother died of the illness. The HSE apologised in a statement to media and acknowledged “our failure to communicate with Irene and subsequently with Stephen, in a timely and appropriate way, the results of the audit that indicated a change in the interpretation of Irene’s smear test results”.
Dr Gabriel Scally, the author of a report on the CervicalCheck programme, welcomed the successful High Court case taken by Mr Teap.
READ NEXT:
- Garda probe as two bodies found 30km apart in Meath including one wrapped in carpet
- The 'magic button' that defrosts car windows in seconds which some drivers had no idea existed
- Roy Keane stuns fans with England reference during World Cup quarter-final
- Mum's Strep A warning after six-year-old daughter left fighting for life after GP missed the symptoms
- Reduce window condensation ‘nightmare’ with €3 trick many ‘had no idea existed’
Get breaking news to your inbox by signing up to our newsletter
