NHS tainted blood scandal

All hail socialized medicine. This is so much worse than the
subpostmaster scandal.

Listening to BBC radio this morning, I heard about the massive,
appalling tainted blood scandal that went on for most of the '70s and
'80s. The UK NHS, rather than addressing the issue, simply covered up
the problem, lied to patients, destroyed records, and deliberately
allowed the problem to get worse.

To understand this story, you need a bit of background on hepatitis or
inflammation of the liver, a disease known to man throughout history.
In the twentieth century, it became known that most cases were caused by
viruses infecting the liver. The disease was known by "A" and "B",
depending on how the infection was spread. "B" was known to be blood
borne and most cases were suspected to have come from blood
transfusions.

By 1963, a protein from "B" had been identified and the blood supply
could be screened for this disease. But this screening didn't eliminate
all the cases from transfusions. By the '70s, the "A" virus had been
identified, and more tests for blood screening became available but it
still didn't eliminate all cases from transfusions. "C" wasn't
identified until 1989.

https://www.niddk.nih.gov/news/archive/2016/story-discovery-hepatitis-c-from-non-a-non-b-hepatitis-cure

When someone donates blood, the blood is broken down into products, then
re-assembled into something else. The recombined blood had contributions
from lots of donors and if enough donors in the pool were infected with
a blood-borne illness, then the entire batch is contaminated.

Blood is given during surgery, and to treat diseases like haemophilia
and rarer blood diseases. Patients receiving contaminated blood
themselves are highly likely to become infected, given that they are at
their most vulnerable.

The UK had a blood shortage and began importing foreign blood in 1973,
especially from the US. Sometimes people were allowed to sell their
blood. Now, even though the blood supply could be screened for "B" only
at the time, it was well known which populations had higher incidents of
hepatitis: Intravenous drug users who shared needles and prisoners. An
American company was selling blood products to the UK obtained from large
numbers of donors selling blood from a population known to have a high
incidence of hepatitis. Were they even checking for external signs of
disease like jaundice?

None of the stories I heard explained why the UK couldn't do blood
donation campaigns of its own to increase the domestic blood supply.

For years, NHS had become aware of the tainted blood supply but kept
using it. It knew patients had been infected, even specific patients,
but the information was not disclosed. Medical records were hidden or
destroyed. On one radio interview, one woman found out because she'd
gotten to the hospital early for surgery (typical check in times are
before dawn) but lay on a gurney for hours without explanation. As she
was being anaesthetized, the doctor told her they worked on her last due
to the hepatitis "C" infection, then put her under. Fortunately she
remembered and in recovery, she grabbed a nurse and demanded a full
explanation.

Then it got worse. The AIDS crisis hit in the 1980s, and the blood
supply was being obtained from gay men with multiple partners and risky
sexual behavior, some of whom were also IV drug users sharing needles.
Now there was a risk of the blood supply being contaminated with HIV as
well.

It is believed that more than 30,000 patients were infected from the
tainted blood products of whom close to 3,000 died of these illnesses.

I cannot emphasize enough that once it became known that this was a bad
blood product from those at high risk of blood-borne disease selling
blood, these infections from transfusions were 100% avoidable. Instead,
the NHS knowingly continued to use this bad product, lied to patients,
destroyed records, and just generally covered up.

Some compensation will become available but without records, I doubt all
patients will be adequately compensated.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-69022726
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgxx8yz150ko
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-68845141.amp