Tainted blood scandal victims ‘were not told they had HIV’ as one man reveals he was kept in the dark about his condition for up to two years

  • Victims of the contaminated blood scandal were not initially told they had HIV
  • Evidence suggests doctors kept a patient in the dark for two years
  • Martin Beard said he contracted HIV aged 15 at Birmingham children’s hospital
  • But he wasn’t told he had the illness until he visited a hospital in Stoke aged 17

By Sophie Borland Health Editor For The Daily Mail

Published: 01:05 BST, 29 April 2019 | Updated: 01:07 BST, 29 April 2019

Victims of the contaminated blood scandal were kept in the dark by doctors about contracting the deadly virus HIV, according to new evidence.

One patient has uncovered a letter showing they knew he had the disease for up to two years before telling him.

Martin Beard contracted HIV as a youngster while receiving treatment for the blood disorder haemophilia. He was given Factor VIII – a medicine made from human blood – that was infected with HIV and hepatitis.

He only found out he had HIV during a routine check-up aged 17 at a new hospital, the North Staffordshire hospital in Stoke.

Victims of the contaminated blood scandal were not initially told they had HIV, new evidence suggests. One patient said he found a letter that proves doctors at Birmingham Children's hospital knew of his diagnosis when he was 15 but he didn't find out until he visited a different hospital two years later

Victims of the contaminated blood scandal were not initially told they had HIV, new evidence suggests. One patient said he found a letter that proves doctors at Birmingham Children’s hospital knew of his diagnosis when he was 15 but he didn’t find out until he visited a different hospital two years later

Mr Beard, now 50, of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, later obtained a letter showing staff at his previous hospital, the Birmingham Children’s, had been aware of the diagnosis for up to two years before.

The accusations will raise concerns of a cover-up over the tainted blood scandal involving NHS staff and Government officials. Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust it was ‘looking into this matter’.

A public inquiry into the scandal begins tomorrow.

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