- British authorities and public health services were deliberately exposing patients to deadly infections through contaminated blood and products, a report has found.
- Between the 1970s and 1990s, an estimated 3,000 people died, many suffering lifelong illness from HIV or hepatitis infections.
- The scandal is seen as the most deadly in the history of Britain’s National Health Service.
Investigation into Britain’s infected blood scandal reveals British authorities and the country’s public health agency have committed a ‘catalog of failures’, infecting tens of thousands of patients with deadly infections through deliberately contaminated blood and blood products. It was discovered on Monday that he had been exposed to
Between the 1970s and the early 1990s, an estimated 3,000 people in the UK died and many others are thought to have suffered lifelong illnesses from administering blood or blood products contaminated with HIV or hepatitis.
The scandal is widely seen as the worst disaster in the history of Britain’s state-run National Health Service since its creation in 1948.
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Retired judge Brian Langstaff, who chaired the inquiry, blamed successive governments and medical professionals for failing to avert the tragedy to save face and cost. He found there was evidence that there had been a deliberate attempt to cover up the disaster and that government officials had destroyed documents.
Infected Blood activists react as they gather in Parliament Square ahead of the publication of the final report into the scandal in London, May 19, 2024. British authorities and the country’s public health agency committed and deliberately exposed a “catalogue of failures”. An investigation into Britain’s infected blood scandal found on Monday that tens of thousands of patients contracted deadly infections through contaminated blood or blood products. (via Aaron Chown/PA)
“This disaster was not a coincidence. The outbreak occurred because those in power – doctors, blood services, and successive governments – failed to put patient safety first,” he said. “The response of those in power has only exacerbated people’s suffering.”
Many of those affected had hemophilia, which affects the blood’s ability to clot. In the 1970s, patients were given a new treatment that Britain imported from the United States. Some of the plasma used to make the blood products turned out to be from high-risk donors, including prison inmates who were paid to provide blood samples.
Manufacturers of the treatment mixed plasma from thousands of blood donations, so it only takes one infected donor to put the entire batch at risk.
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According to the report, approximately 1,250 people with bleeding disorders, including 380 children, were infected with HIV-contaminated blood products. Three-quarters of them died. Up to 5,000 other people who received the blood products developed chronic hepatitis C, a type of liver infection.
Meanwhile, an estimated 26,800 people became infected with hepatitis C after receiving blood transfusions, often after giving birth, surgery or an accident, the report said.
Campaigners have been fighting for decades to expose the authorities’ failures and secure government compensation. The inquiry, which was finally approved in 2017, examined evidence from more than 5,000 witnesses and more than 100,000 documents over the past four years.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to apologize later on Monday, and authorities are expected to announce compensation totaling around $12.7 billion to victims. Details about that payment are not expected to be released until Tuesday.
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Lawyer Des Collins, who represents 1,500 victims, called the release of the report a “day of truth”.
“They have bravely told their stories, campaigned and inspired collective action for years to get to this point. For some people, it’s been 40 years since they lost a loved one.” “Sadly, thousands of people did not live to see this day.”
Rep. Diana Johnson, who has campaigned for victims for years, said she hoped those found responsible for the disaster faced justice, including prosecution. However, the investigation took a very long time, and some of the key players may have since died.
“There has to be accountability for the actions that were taken, even if it was 30, 40, 50 years ago,” she said.
