HIV/AIDS & Hospitals

HIV, HEP-C Contaminated
UK Blood Inquiry Begins
The Guardian Unlimited – UK
Staff and Agencies
4-20-7
An independent public inquiry opened today into how the NHS gave thousands of haemophiliacs blood contaminated with HIV and hepatitis C.
 
The inquiry, led by the Labour peer Lord Archer of Sandwell, will hear evidence from patients who are now terminally ill as a result of what has been described as “the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS”.
 
More than 4,800 haemophiliacs in Britain were infected with hepatitis C, and 1,200 of those also contracted HIV after being given contaminated blood products in the 1980s and early 1990s, and many more are terminally ill.
 
More than 1,700 patients have since died, although around 380 haemophiliacs and 20 other patients given contaminated transfusions during surgery are still alive.
 
The inquiry’s remit is to investigate the circumstances surrounding the supply of contaminated blood products, examine its impact on haemophilia patients, and to recommend steps to help those affected and relatives of those who have already died.
 
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One of the “most shocking” documents was a letter from the head of Britain’s public health surveillance centre warning the Department of Health that some Factor 8 supplies could be contaminated with HIV. Despite this, Factor 8 imports continued to be used.
 
Some haemophiliacs also told the programme that they were convinced they were used as medical guinea pigs without their knowledge or consent.
 
In some cases, even when those tests showed they were HIV positive, the patients themselves were not told for several years.
 
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Patricia A. Doyle DVM, PhD
Bus Admin, Tropical Agricultural Economics
Univ of West Indies
 
Read more @  http://rense.com/general76/uk.htm