Blood Money: The infected blood scandal 'on another level' of injustice | BBC News

Key Concepts:

• Infected Blood Scandal: The contamination of blood products with viruses like HIV and Hepatitis C, leading to widespread infection and death.
• Factor 8 & Factor 9: Clotting agents used to treat hemophilia, which were often sourced from high-risk donors in the US.
• Hemophilia: A genetic condition that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, leading to excessive bleeding.
• Previously Untreated Patients (PUPs): Hemophiliacs who had not previously been exposed to blood products, sometimes used in trials for new treatments.
• Self-Sufficiency: The UK government's policy to produce its own blood products to avoid reliance on potentially contaminated imports.
• Risk-Benefit Ratio: The calculation doctors made to weigh the advantages of using Factor 8 against the potential risks of infection.
• Compensation Waivers: Agreements offered by the government to victims in exchange for financial payments, preventing them from pursuing further legal action.

1. The Infected Blood Scandal Unfolds:

• The scandal began in the 1970s and 80s when thousands of hemophiliacs and others requiring blood transfusions were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C through contaminated blood products.
• Britain relied on imported blood products, particularly from the US, due to a shortage in the UK.
• US pharmaceutical companies paid donors for blood, increasing the risk of contamination from high-risk groups like intravenous drug users.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) advised stopping imports from countries with high rates of hepatitis, but this was not consistently followed.

2. The Story of Colin Smith:

• Colin Smith was diagnosed with hemophilia at 4 months old and treated with Factor 8 at the University Hospital of Wales under Professor Arthur Bloom's care.
• At 10 months old, Colin was given the pioneering drug Factor 8, a clotting agent.
• Colin received imported Factor 8, despite internal guidelines suggesting children should receive NHS blood products or cryoprecipitate from a single donor.
• The drugs company Amuno, which made Colin's Factor 8, used blood from America, known to carry a higher risk of serious infection.
• Colin contracted HIV and later died of AIDS at the age of 7.
• His parents, Colin and Janet Smith, believe he was experimented on as a previously untreated patient (PUP).

3. Warnings Ignored and Risks Downplayed:

• Experts in the US warned doctors in the UK about the risk of AIDS from blood products as early as March 1983.
• Bruce Everett from the Center for Infectious Diseases wrote to Professor Bloom in Cardiff to warn about the risks from blood products.
• The head of the Communicable Disease Surveillance Center for England and Wales urged the Department of Health to withdraw US blood products, but his letter was ignored.
• Professor Arthur Bloom issued a statement saying it had not been proven that AIDS is transmitted by blood products, despite having reported a suspected case of AIDS in one of his patients.
• Journalist Sue Douglas exposed the dangers of American blood in May 1983, but the Hemophilia Society called her article unduly alarmist.

4. The Role of Pharmaceutical Companies and Government:

• Pharmaceutical companies continued to sell Factor 8 even as the risks became obvious, prioritizing profit over patient safety.
• Peter Kums, former marketing and managing director of Immuno, admitted there was a significant price difference between US and European Factor 8 but denied any difference in quality.
• The government, under Margaret Thatcher, continued to import blood products due to cost considerations.
• Health Minister Ken Clark told Parliament there was no conclusive evidence that AIDS was being transmitted through blood products.
• Lord Simon Glenn, a junior minister, acknowledged there was an almost certain link between AIDS and imported blood products but did not inform hemophiliacs about the risks.
• Dr. Peter Foster, a research scientist, blew the whistle, warning the government that the UK could become a dumping ground for non-regulated US blood products.

5. The Impact on Victims and Families:

• Gerald Stone, a hemophiliac, kept his condition a secret for over 30 years. He was switched to an American product in 1985 and then back to a British product shortly after, without explanation. He was later diagnosed with Hepatitis C.
• Tom and Meg, not their real names, kept Tom's HIV infection a secret for over 40 years to protect their children. Tom was infected with American Factor 8 in 1978.
• Tom and Meg were told to expect jaundice with the treatment but no mention of anything else.
• Professor Bloom suggested Meg have a termination when she was pregnant, fearing the child would inherit hemophilia and suspecting she had HIV.
• Colin and Janet Smith faced stigma and discrimination after Colin's AIDS diagnosis became public, including hate calls and graffiti on their home.
• Caz Chalice contracted Hepatitis C from a blood transfusion in 1992 and faced years of fatigue and depression.

6. The Search for Justice and Compensation:

• Two previous inquiries concluded that no one was to blame, leading to demands for a public inquiry.
• A public inquiry, chaired by Sir Brian Langstaff, began in April 2023.
• An interim report recommended compensation for those infected and affected.
• Gerald and Tom received £100,000 each as initial compensation.
• Efforts to speed up compensation are ongoing, but many victims are still waiting for justice.
• The government intends to fully respond to the inquiry's call for wider compensation once the final report is published in May.

7. Ethical Concerns and Experimentation:

• Professor Edward Tuddenham acknowledged that ethical standards were loose at the time, and patients were not always informed of the risks.
• A letter from Professor Bloom and a colleague in January 1982 called on doctors to give new heat-treated blood products to previously untreated patients (PUPs) to test their infectivity.
• Victims believe they were used as guinea pigs for commercial blood products without their knowledge or consent.

8. Conclusion:

The infected blood scandal represents a profound failure of public health and ethical responsibility. The pursuit of profit, cost-cutting measures, and a lack of transparency led to the infection and death of thousands of people. The victims and their families have fought for decades for truth, justice, and compensation. While progress has been made with the public inquiry and interim compensation, the fight continues to hold those responsible accountable and ensure that such a tragedy never happens again. The scandal highlights the importance of rigorous safety standards, ethical medical practices, and government accountability in protecting public health.