Contaminated Blood Affects Hundreds

Thousands of people were infected with Hepatitis C and HIV through NHS blood products in the 1970s and 80s.

17:20 26 March 2015

Penrose inquiry, which was headed by former High Court judge Lord Penrose, revealed that hundreds of patients were infected with Hepatitis C and HIV through NHS blood products in the 1970s and 80s. The contaminated blood scandal has been described as the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, which resulted to the death of hundreds of people. 

 

Following the announcement of the inquiry’s result, Prime Minister David Cameron issued an apology on behalf of the British government to the victims. He said that it was difficult to imagine the "feeling of unfairness that people must feel at being infected with something like Hepatitis C or HIV as a result of totally unrelated treatment within the NHS".

 

He added: "To each and every one of these people I would like to say sorry on behalf of the government for something that should not have happened."

 

Meanwhile, victims and families of patients who have died because of the incident were unimpressed when the report was unveiled in Edinburgh; they heckled and shouted “whitewash.”