Thu 1 Oct 2020, 10:26 AM | Posted by editor
LETTER by Mark Langabeer, Newton Abbot Labour Party Member.
The latest RT documentary, entitled Bad Blood, was about the criminal conduct of the Tories and the pharmaceutical companies during the 1980s, when around 5,000 UK haemophilia sufferers were infected with contaminated blood products, resulting in 2,800 deaths, a figure that is still rising. The programme explores how and why this happened.
During the mid-70s, a new treatment was developed, called factor 8, which meant that those who suffered from haemophilia could treat themselves, rather than regularly attending hospital. However, there was a shortage of blood products, and so supplies were imported from the USA, where blood donations aren’t screened and so some were contaminated with diseases like Hepatitis-C and HIV.
The programme interviewed one man who was diagnosed with haemophilia at the age of 3. The condition causes internal bleeds and joint pain, and as a teenager he was also diagnosed with HIV. He attended Treloar College, which specialised in the education of disabled youth. He reported that of the 89 haemophiliacs who attended during the 80s, 72 have since died from AIDS or other diseases.
It emerged that doctors were aware of his condition some years before he was told, and were conducting tests or monitoring changes in his condition. Both he and another interviewee described the stigma and social isolation they suffered as a result of contracting HIV during the mid and late 80s.
The founder of a campaign group, also called Factor-8 had a father who was a haemophiliac and who died quite young because of contaminated blood. He pointed out that the pharmaceutical companies, some doctors and the Tory Government of the day were responsible for the deaths of many haemophiliacs from contaminated blood. He had a copy of a letter from the Department of Health which said that only the early batches of blood products were tested on chimpanzees, after which humans were tested. He concluded, therefore, that the chimps cost money but the humans didn’t.
In 2019, the Government finally agreed to a public inquiry on this scandal, but some believe that those responsible should face criminal charges. Ken Clarke, the Minister for Health during the mid-80s, said in Parliament that AIDS wasn’t transferred from blood products, but this proved to be false. A solicitor, acting on behalf of victims and their relatives, made the point that there had been successful prosecutions in France. He also said that the Crown Prosecution Service are unlikely to act because they know that prosecutions could prove successful.
The Inquiry is likely to run on for years, yet until I saw this documentary, I wasn’t even aware of its existence. Given the loss of life and the trauma experienced, it is scandalous that there has been so little coverage given in the media, although I remember Clarke being regularly interviewed about his stance on Brexit. It’s yet another example of the mass media reporting on what they want you to hear.
The documentary is available on YouTube here.
