Charity at centre of NHS tainted blood scandal that left thousands of patients infected twice refuses to hand over crucial files for evidence to the inquiry
- The Haemophilia Society has now been ordered by the chairman of the infected blood inquiry to pass on crucial documents and files
- It was first asked for the evidence in July, but the charity has twice refused to supply papers through their lawyers
- The exact contents of the documents are not known but campaigners believe they will implicate the charity at the heart of the scandal
A charity at the centre of the contaminated blood scandal has been refusing to hand over key evidence.
The Haemophilia Society has now been ordered by the chairman of the infected blood inquiry to pass on crucial documents and files.
It was first asked for the evidence in July, but the charity has twice refused to supply papers through their lawyers.
In the worst treatment disaster in the NHS’s history, up to 7,500 patients were infected by contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980. Stock image
The exact contents of the documents are not known but campaigners believe they will implicate the charity at the heart of the scandal.
In the worst treatment disaster in the NHS’s history, up to 7,500 patients were infected by contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s. Many had haemophilia, a blood-clotting disorder, and relied on regular injections of a medicine called Factor VIII, which was made from human blood.
Britain was running low on supplies of Factor VIII so imported products from the US, where blood was donated by prostitutes, the homeless and prisoners.
These products were contaminated with HIV and hepatitis and were never screened or heat-treated. Campaigners believe the documents will show the Haemophilia Society was aware the medicine was infected but encouraged patients to use it.
They also claim the charity had very close ties with the pharmaceutical industry – which was supplying the products – and the Government, which is also suspected of a cover up.
The contaminated blood inquiry began last September and is gathering witness evidence before it resumes in April. Chairman Sir Brian Langstaff has said it is ‘vital’ that any determinations in the inquiry must be made public to ensure trust is maintained.
In a statement, the Haemophilia Society said it believed the inquiry ‘can and must’ deliver the truth about the contaminated blood scandal. But it added that it was at an ‘impasse’ with the inquiry and is consulting its lawyers on Sir Brian’s demand for the documents. They also confirmed that ‘it has always been our intention to fully comply with our legal obligations to the Inquiry.’