Toxic blood victims deserve millions, says inquiry

Nearly 4,700 patients were affected by contaminated blood in what was described as "the greatest treatment disaster of the health service".

The two-year investigation into tainted blood by Lord Archer of Sandwell condemned the "procrastination" of the government and other agencies in giving help to the victims.

His report said the victims should receive compensation because many were plunged into poverty after their illness forced them out of work. At the same time, they were faced with the burden of ever rising costs for medical expenses and home care.

A means-tested solution would be an "undeserved affront to their dignity" however, and the inquiry said standard payments should be made to patients.

It stopped short of recommending a specific amount, however, as it feared the government would start from there and try to beat the cost down.

In Ireland, patients infected with HIV from contaminated blood received up to 100,000, and those who contracted hepatitis C were paid an average of 750,000, the report noted.

The 113-page inquiry report was scathing about the reliance on imported blood products and delays in treating it. "It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that commercial interests took precedence over public health concerns," it said

Despite warnings about the safety of blood imported from the United States in the 1970s, the government continued to use commercial suppliers from across the Atlantic.

Often the blood was paid for using "skid row" donors – prisoners subsequently found to be in the category at risk of carrying HIV and hepatitis C.

The inquiry said other diseases such as vCJD were a reminder "new infections may yet arise with serious results" that had not been screened for – Britain did not move to full self-sufficiency in blood products until the late 1980s.

"A full public inquiry into this issue should have been held much earlier to address the concerns of the haemophilia community," the report said.

Lord Archer, a former solicitor general, said his inquiry did not apportion blame but suggested ministers could apologise to victims of the tragedy.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be construed as an admission that it was the government's fault," he said.

"If you tread on somebody's foot on a crowded train, it may not be your fault, but at least you say sorry, and I think probably it would help to achieve closure and help to alleviate feelings a bit if there was some kind of apology."

The inquiry took written and oral evidence from hundreds of witnesses, but ministers and officials from the Department of Health refused to be appear before it. Because it had no statutory powers, it could not compel witnesses to give evidence and its findings are not legally binding.

It did, however, show how ignorant politicians and health practitioners were about viruses in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1983, Ken Clarke, then health secretary, told parliament: "There is no evidence that Aids is transmitted by blood products."

Until 1978, the screening of US donors consisted of appeals for self-exclusion by groups that were at risk of spreading infection. Not until 1983 did commercial companies question donors about their medical histories.

Some 4,670 haemophiliacs who received blood transfusions in the 1970s or 1980s were infected with hepatitis C, of whom 1,243 were also infected with HIV. Nearly 2,000 have died as a result of exposure to the tainted blood, in what the medical expert Lord Winston called "the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS".

Despite pressure from campaigners over the years, successive British governments have refused to hold a public inquiry into the scandal.

Campaigners welcomed the findings of Lord Archer's inquiry, and said it was down to the government to act on them.

Chris James, the chief executive of the Haemophilia Society, said the report gave a sense of the "massive devastation" that the tragedy had wreaked on the haemophilia community.

He added: "It is now up to the Department of Health and the government to look at the report. We want them to act on it urgently and significantly."

But some victims of the scandal were unimpressed and felt the report contained nothing they did not know already .

Haydn Lewis, 52, from Cardiff, a haemophiliac who became infected with HIV and hepatitis C from tainted blood and is now on the waiting list for a liver transplant, said: "I haven't learned anything new from the inquiry."

The independent inquiry, which cost an estimated 75,000, was privately funded.

Haemophilia is usually an inherited disorder, in which the blood does not clot properly. Sufferers bruise easily and can have spontaneous internal bleeds, often in their joints and muscles.

In the 1970s, a new method for producing clotting factors was discovered that used plasma donations from thousands of donors – but if any of the sources was infected with a blood-borne virus, the whole batch would be contaminated.

It emerged last week that a haemophiliac had contracted vCJD – the human form of mad cow disease – after being treated with a blood-clotting agent from an infected donor. It was only discovered after he died from other causes.

A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "We have great sympathy for the patients and families affected by contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s, and will study the findings of Lord Archer's report in detail.

"Steps to safeguard blood products against HIV and hepatitis C have been in place since 1985. In addition, every reasonable step to minimise risks from blood transfusion has been taken, and robust screening measures are in place to protect patients."

AT A GLANCE

THE main recommendations of the Archer Inquiry are:

Creation of a committee to advise the government on the management of haemophilia.

"More generous" financial assistance for victims and carers who have been prevented from working, paid through the Department for Work and Pensions like other benefits. However, these should not be means-tested.

&149 Providing those infected with benefits not freely available on the NHS, such as free prescription drugs, GP visits, counselling and home nursing;

A scheme to ensure that victims of the scandal can obtain insurance.

Patients with haemophilia who have received blood donations and their partners should be tested for viruses.

Individuals who may have been put at risk should be identified and contacted.

Fears that a Scottish inquiry could be obstructed

CAMPAIGNERS are warning that the Scottish Government-backed inquiry into the tainted blood scandal could be held up by obstructive UK officials and ministers.

Lawyers for contaminated blood victims say Department of Health ministers and officials refused to co-operate with the Archer Inquiry in England, and that the Scottish Government has no power to compel them to give evidence to the investigation being led by Lord Penrose.

But Nicola Sturgeon, the health secretary, yesterday said: "We now have an SNP government which is determined to have a full and open inquiry. Lord Penrose has been very open in saying there will be a considerable period of time where documents have to be considered, but this inquiry is now in a position to get under way.

"I believe it has the ability to give people the answers to the questions they have been asking for many years."

Frank Maguire, representing the families of two victims, said there could be limitations in the inquiry. He said: "Not one single official from the Department of Health agreed to give evidence to the Archer inquir. That is a glaring omission which undermines the credibility of its findings.

"How can anyone get to the truth without speaking to the officials and ministers who made the key decisions at the time?"

Ross Finnie, the Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said the level of co-operation had to be clarified.

"I'd like to know what assurances the health secretary has received from the UK government about the extent of its co-operation," he said. "Only full and public engagement will satisfy the needs of this inquiry."

The Penrose inquiry began collecting written evidence and documents this month.

CASE STUDY: 'I feel a little bit bad about the fact that my hepatitis may have brought harm to people'

WHEN David Henderson was digging out old medical files at his mother's Greenock home recently, he stumbled across a letter that crystallised the ignorance surrounding hepatitis and contaminated blood.

It was from the Blood Transfusion Service in Glasgow dated 14 August, 1973, inviting Mr Henderson, now 56, to become a regular blood donor. He had contracted a form of hepatitis two years previously – an all-too common fate for those suffering from haemophilia who were reliant on blood transfusions.

Despite his condition, the blood transfusion service wanted him to become a regular donor, saying he carried special antibodies that would help make others immune from the virus. The letter said: "As a result of our research, we have also discovered that it is possible to protect other people against the disease by injecting them with this antibody."

Mr Henderson said the letter underlined ignorance surrounding contaminated blood 25 years ago and "shows a snapshot in time of the blood transfusion service that has come back to haunt them". He continued: "It looks as though at the time they were trying to get blood from all the haemophiliacs to 'help' others." However, he is troubled by thoughts about how many people might have become infected with hepatitis directly because of his donations.

"I gave blood several times because of that letter. I feel a little bit bad about the fact that my hepatitis, or whatever else was in my blood, may have brought harm to people," he said.

The discovery follows a nearly lifelong struggle with haemophilia, which was exacerbated when he also contracted hepatitis A, B and C. Unlike around a quarter of haemophilia patients who have hepatitis, however, Mr Henderson never contracted HIV.

He was diagnosed with haemophilia when he was just one after cutting his mouth sucking a wooden spoon. Then, as a young man, he contracted hepatitis after receiving transfusions from blood that was not then heat-treated. His condition worsened after developing chronic hepatitis C and a severe liver infection. He was treated, but became severely ill with septicaemia in December 2003.

"I was in palliative care, I did not walk for five months and I slowly recovered, but am severely disabled. I walk permanently on my toes, my knees are wrecked and ankle joints are ruined with bleeds. I have a 30 curvature in my left leg and my hips are out of alignment. I can't walk very far and am in constant pain."

Recently he received a letter saying he might have been infected with vCJD – the human form of mad cow disease. He works part-time as an accountant, despite struggling to dress himself. He is looking forward to the Penrose Inquiry.