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The final report of the blood investigation into infected people will be released on Monday after decades of campaigning by families and victims.
Victims are expected to receive billions of dollars in compensation, and the prime minister is expected to publicly apologize to all victims on behalf of the government.
The investigation, the largest ever carried out in the UK, has been running since 2017 and is expected to result in the publication of a previously delayed “multi-volume” report.
Below is the timeline of the infected blood scandal and the government’s response.
1970s – Factor VIII treatment becomes widespread
Hemophilia is a genetic disorder that prevents blood from clotting effectively. The most common form is hemophilia A. This is when the body does not produce enough of the factor VIII protein, which is essential for the blood clotting process.
Previously, the only treatment for hemophilia patients was to receive plasma transfusions from a single donor in the hospital.
This situation changed with the invention of lyophilized factor VIII concentrate in 1966. The concentrate combines plasma from up to 10,000 donors to achieve the correct dosage and can now be administered at home.
However, it only takes one donor with a disease such as HIV or hepatitis to infect an entire batch of factor VIII concentrate.
Routine screening of blood donations for these diseases has not been done for decades, and many paid blood donors in the United States have substance abuse problems or are prison inmates, making them susceptible to infectious diseases. It was much more sexual.
The majority of people affected by the infected blood scandal became infected after receiving contaminated factor VIII medication.
Many also became infected after receiving direct blood transfusions from untested donors with HIV or hepatitis.
Early 1980s – Government denies risk of infected blood
Shortly after the first cases of AIDS began to be identified in the early 1980s, several hemophiliacs were reported to have been infected with the disease.
In 1982, an infant in San Francisco, California, died of AIDS after receiving multiple blood transfusions, and in 1983, the World Health Organization (WHO) lancet A medical journal recommended that patients with hemophilia be warned about the potential dangers of blood products.
In the same year, the first suspected cases of haemophilia in the UK were reported in Bristol and Cardiff.
But in November 1983, the then health minister, Sir Ken Clarke, told MPs: Nevertheless, the concerns this proposal raises are understandable. ”
It wasn’t until 1984 that blood products began being heat-treated to kill many viruses, and in 1986 blood donations began to be tested for HIV.
Late 1980s – First compensation payments to victims
In 1987, the Macfarlane Trust was set up to provide payments to haemophiliacs infected with HIV using blood products supplied by the NHS. He was initially given a grant of £10 million by the government, followed by a further grant of £19 million in 1989.
In 1988, approximately 1,000 hemophiliacs infected with HIV through blood transfusions and blood products sued the government, but these lawsuits were settled out of court.
In 1989, then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher met with Lord Clarke to discuss whether to provide financial compensation to victims.
Meeting record (viewer) Sunday Timesan unidentified participant expressed concern that if payments were made, it would be “desirable to avoid incurring any legal liability, and it would be desirable to avoid acknowledging any moral obligation.” It shows that there is.
That same year, hepatitis C, a previously unknown strain of the virus, was first identified. In 1991, the first test for hepatitis C became available.
1990s – Payments to victims are further restricted
The Eileen Trust was set up in 1993 and, like the MacFarlane Trust, was a charity that paid out payments to people infected with HIV through contaminated blood products. Initially he was given £500,000 in funding by the government.
People with HIV who were registered through either charity each received a lump sum of £20,000 in 1990, and in 1992 received an additional lump sum of up to £80,500 depending on their family circumstances.
Family members of hemophilia patients who died after being infected with HIV also received condolence payments, but this was dependent on household income.
Both charities received funding from the government, but these were not formal compensation payments. To date, these organizations have paid out more than £200 million to victims and their families.
Throughout the 1990s, some victims began receiving letters from blood transfusion services informing them that the blood they received might be contaminated.
In many cases, these were sent more than seven years after the blood transfusion and after the statutory statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims had passed.
2000s – First limited investigation into scandal begins
In 2003, the Skipton Fund was established to facilitate payments to people infected with hepatitis C through contaminated blood products, and is funded directly by governments and competent authorities.
Victims received lump sum payments of either £20,000 or £25,000, depending on the severity of their symptoms following hepatitis C infection.
The privately funded Sandwell Inquiry, led by Labor colleague Lord Archer of Sandwell, began in February 2007 and was completed in 2009. Because the inquiry had no formal status, it could not compel witnesses to testify or disclose documents.
In conclusion, Lord Sandwell said the use of contaminated blood products to treat haemophilia patients was a “horrible human tragedy”.
In 2009, several former ministers, including former health secretary Lord Owen, former health secretary Lord Jenkin and former attorney general Lord Archer, unsuccessfully campaigned for an investigation into the scandal. .
March 2015 – Prime Minister David Cameron apologizes to victims of scandal
In 2008, then Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced the Penrose Inquiry, a public inquiry into the scandal in Scotland.
The investigation was not completed until 2015, with the final report’s main recommendation being that anyone in Scotland who received a blood transfusion before 1991 and has not been tested for hepatitis C should undergo a blood test. , exposed to criticism.
After the report was published, then Prime Minister David Cameron told the House of Commons: “The sense of injustice that people will feel when they become infected with something like hepatitis C or HIV as a result of receiving completely unrelated treatment within the NHS.” ” is difficult to imagine, he said. ”.
He added: “On behalf of the government, I would like to apologize to each and every one of these people for an event that should not have happened.”
July 2017 – Blood survey of infected people launched by Theresa May
After decades of pressure from MPs, colleagues and campaigners, Prime Minister Theresa May announced in July 2017 that she would launch a full statutory investigation into the contaminated blood scandal.
At the time, it was estimated that 2,400 people had already died from ingesting contaminated blood products.
The prime minister at the time said in a statement that the infection of thousands of people, mainly people with hemophilia, was “a terrible tragedy that should never have happened.”
“The victims and their families, who have suffered so much pain and hardship, deserve answers as to why this happened,” she said, adding that victims “have been denied answers for too long. So I want to correct that,” he added. .
October 2022 – Interim payment recommended to victims
The ongoing investigation will publish a report in September 2022 containing estimates of the number of people infected with HIV and hepatitis as a result of contaminated blood products.
More than 30,000 people in the UK were found to have received treatment for HIV and hepatitis C, and more than 3,000 subsequently died.
In October 2022, following recommendations from Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the Infectious Blood Commission, the Government paid interim compensation of £100,000 to everyone currently registered on the UK Infected Blood Support Scheme.
This includes not only those who have been directly infected with HIV or hepatitis C, but also the families of those who have died as a result of the infection.
However, Factor 8, one of the leading campaigning organizations for those affected by the scandal, says that as of March 2024, two-thirds of families have not received interim compensation, and that 2,000 He claimed that the deaths were going unrecognized.