by Paul Sandel

London: N infected blood scandal In Britain it was not an accident, but a mistake by doctors and governments, which led to the death of 3,000 people and thousands more suffering from hepatitis or hepatitis. hiva public check Reported on Monday.

Inquiry chairman Brian Langstaff said more than 30,000 people received infected blood and blood products from Britain’s state-funded National Health Service in the 1970s and 1980s, destroying lives, dreams and families.

Government He hid the truth “to save face and save expenses”, adding that the cover-up was “more subtle, more widespread and more sinister in its implications” than any organized conspiracy.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it was “a day of shame for the British state”.
“The outcome of this inquiry should shake our country to its core,” he said, adding that ministers and institutions had failed in the most “disturbing and devastating way”.

“I want to apologize wholeheartedly for this terrible injustice,” he said in parliament. And promised to provide full compensation to the affected people.

The families of the victims and survivors had sought justice for years and Langstaff, who led the six-year investigation, said what happened was horrifying and shocking.

In some cases, blood products made from donations obtained from American prisoners or other high-risk groups paid for by donations were used on children, causing them to become infected with HIV or hepatitis CLong after the risks became known.

Other victims were used in medical tests without their knowledge or consent. People who were infected with HIV were often shunned by their communities.

“This disaster was no accident,” Langstaff said to a standing ovation from campaigners.

“Infections happened because those in power – doctors, blood services and successive governments – did not put patient safety first.”

Stephen Lawrence was given a blood transfusion after he was hit by a police car in London in 1985. Two years later, at the age of 15, he was diagnosed with HIV and hepatitis C.

“I was accused of taking drugs, drinking alcohol, etc.,” he told Reuters. He also said that he was not compensated because his records had gone missing.

“This is about justice,” he said. “I’ve been struggling with this for 37 years.”

Thousands of people have suffered in the United States, France, Canada, and other countries as a result of the use of infected blood.

The British government agreed to make an interim payment of 100,000 pounds ($126,990) to some of those affected in 2022.

Clive Smith, Chairman Haemophilia Society, said that the scandal has shaken confidence in the medical establishment. “(It) really challenges the trust that we place in people to take care of us, to do their best and to protect us,” he told reporters.

high risk supplies

Infused blood and blood products were used for transfusions, which were not always medically necessary, and also to treat bleeding disorders such as hemophilia.

Hemophilia patients receiving factor 8 concentrates from the United States were at particularly high risk.

The investigation said some concentrations contained the HIV virus, but officials failed to switch to safer alternatives and decided not to suspend their imports in July 1983, a year after the risks became clear.

The investigation found that systemic failures resulted in 80 to 100 people becoming infected with HIV, and approximately 26,800 people became infected with hepatitis C, often from receiving blood after childbirth or operations.

It said both groups failed because of doctors’ complacency about hepatitis C and their slowness to respond to the dangers of AIDS, compounded by the lack of a meaningful apology or redress.

“Anyone reading this report will be surprised to learn that these events can occur UK”Langstaff said.

The investigation by the former judge does not have the power to recommend prosecution.

In France, former health minister Edmond Hervé was convicted for his role in a scandal there in 1999, but received no punishment. Michel Garetta, director of France’s national blood centre, received a four-year sentence.

(Reporting by Paul Sandel; additional reporting by Elizabeth Piper, William James, Muvija M and Andrew MacAskill; editing by Kate Holton and Christina Fincher)