Posted by Ann Wills

Daily Mail 11.3.19  “HEALTH CHIEFS KNEW ABOUT TAINTED BLOOD SCANDAL 30 YEARS AGO” by Sophie Borland, Health Editor.

Health bosses secretly admitted they were at fault over the contaminated blood scandal nearly 30 years ago, official documents reveal.  Govts have always denied wrongdoing & insisted the disaster was a tragic accident.  But behind closed doors, officials acknowledged patients were given contaminated blood when safer treatments were available.  Newly released documents reveal ministers were privately briefed by lawyers that govt cost-cutting was to blame.  In 1970s & 80s the Dept of Health imported USA blood products as it was cheaper than producing them in UK.  They were infected with HIV & hepatitis C as the blood was donated by high risk groups including prisoners, in exchange for cash.  It was the worst treatment disaster in NHS history- but nobody was held responsible.  The documents - obtained via Freedom of Information laws - are internal memos from Dept of Health & The Treasury, which were concerned they may have to pay compensation to victims.  One reveals an admission from Dept of Health (DoH) that 500 haemophiliac patients had contracted HIV- entirely avoidably.  1,000s more would develop hepatitis.  The document dated 26.11.90 states “There seems a considerable danger that courts would bend over backwards to make awards to as many haemophiliacs as possible, by setting an early date after which the NHS could reasonably have been expected to have introduced new forms of treatment.”   The “new forms of treatment” refer to safer, heat-treated products which came on the market in mid-1980s, but cost more.  An earlier memo shows then Health Sec. Kenneth Clarke (still an MP) admitting that some patients who caught HIV from blood had “very strong medical negligence cases” but he was publicly insisting the tragedy was ”nobody’s fault.”  A letter dated 6.12.90  to DoH from a barrister warns of “terrible gaps” in the govt response to the disaster, “as there was obviously quite a lot of neglect.”  This is believed to refer to the DoH avoiding spending money on creating their own blood products, instead of importing them.  A document reveals how, if the govt were taken to court, “losing badly” to victims would cost almost £500 million in compensation & legal fees.  

(My comment:  Edward Priestley of Yorkshire caught Hepatitis C from an infected NHS blood transfusion in 1986.  Safer treatments were available by then but often were not used. This cost Edward a successful career as he was too ill to work.  Many such patients have died.   Edward still has to undergo regular medical tests because Hepatitis C can cause liver cancer.  He researched & tries to prevent this by avoiding toxic chemicals - benzene, fluoride, pesticides etc. & he eats organic.  His website www.medicineandillness.com  gives his “Survival Guide” to help others free of charge.  Anita Roddick, BodyShop founder, was given Hep C infected blood during childbirth & later died.)

Ann