New tainted blood scandal: Patients infected with HIV were each paid around £24,000 to sign away their rights to sue – before being told they’d also contracted hepatitis C
- More than 1,200 patients infected with HIV forced to sign government contract
- After they promised to drop all legal action, they were told they had hepatitis C
- Victims paid cash sum of about £24,000 depending on age and marital status
Victims of the contaminated blood scandal were persuaded to sign away their legal rights without knowing they had a second deadly condition, the Daily Mail can reveal.
More than 1,200 patients who had been infected with HIV were forced to sign a contract with government officials promising to drop all legal action.
After they signed, they were told they had also been infected with hepatitis C.
More than 1,200 patients who had been infected with HIV were forced to sign a contract with government officials promising to drop all legal action (file picture)
The contracts were signed in 1991 and victims were each paid a cash sum of about £24,000, depending on their age, marital status and whether they had children.
The Department of Health was aware in 1989 that the patients had hepatitis C – which causes severe liver damage – but didn’t tell them until after the contracts had been signed. Patients with both HIV and hepatitis C tend to die much more quickly than those with just one of the viruses.
The contracts expose a shocking cover-up by the Government in what is considered the NHS’s worst treatment disaster.
Up to 7,500 patients are thought to have been infected with diseases after being given blood products or transfusions in the 1970s and 1980s.
The contracts were signed in 1991 and victims were each paid a cash sum of about £24,000, depending on their age, marital status and whether they had children (file photo)
Many had the blood-clotting disorder haemophilia and relied on regular injections of a medicine called Factor VIII, made from human blood.
Britain was running low on Factor VIII so imported supplies from the United States where they had been donated by prisoners, the homeless and prostitutes for cash.
Many were contaminated with HIV and hepatitis and they were never screened or heat-treated.
The patients made to sign the contract all had haemophilia and had been trying to take a group legal action against the Department of Health after finding out they had HIV.
Campaigners say the Government was desperate to keep the scandal away from the court for fear of the publicity, criminal charges and compensation claims that might follow.
The Department of Health was aware patients had hepatitis C (pictured, an illustration) – which causes severe liver damage – but didn’t tell them until after the contracts had been signed
The contract, sent out via patients’ solicitors, states: ‘I undertake not to bring any proceedings against the Crown or any health service body now or at any time in the future in respect of the said infection of (blank space for name) by human-immuno deficiency virus or hepatitis virus.’
Jason Evans, the founder of Factor 8, whose father died in 1993 after being infected from both hepatitis C and HIV, said: ‘It was the greatest trick the Department of Health would ever pull on them.
‘The Government and Civil Service in this country wanted to bury the truth about what happened. They had their reasons: criminal prosecutions were occurring in other countries such as France, the potential liability was enormous and senior officials stood to be in real trouble.’
Labour MP Diana Johnson, who campaigned for the public inquiry into the scandal, said: ‘The scale of the contaminated blood scandal is truly shocking.
‘As the public inquiry proceeds, further disturbing revelations will no doubt come to light both regarding the original errors that were made and the efforts to cover it up over several decades.’
More than 7,500 patients were infected with HIV and hepatitis after being given contaminated blood by the NHS in the 1970s and 1980s
Sharon Hodgson, Labour’s shadow health minister, said: ‘This is a horrifying and shameful series of events.’
One patient who was made to sign the contract said he was told by his solicitor that if he refused, none of the other patients would get their money.
Adrian, who doesn’t wish to reveal his full identity, said: ‘He told us it had to be everybody, or nobody. If one person didn’t sign, the financial thing wouldn’t happen.’
A public inquiry began last month and it is being chaired by a former High Court judge, Sir Brian Langstaff (left)
Most patients only found out they had been infected with hepatitis C in 1994 and 1995 when the Department of Health carried out further testing and results were shared with doctors.
Had patients found out earlier, they could have been given treatments to encourage their immune system to attack the virus. Although the drugs weren’t as advanced as those available today, they would have significantly improved the patients’ survival chances.
The Mail has seen documents which show that Department of Health officials were aware in 1989 that the patients had hepatitis C. Tests had been carried out on patients’ blood without their knowledge when they attended haemophilia clinics.
A letter sent by an official from the department in October 1989 states: ‘In the case of NANB hepatitis (hepatitis C), the majority of haemophiliacs became infected after frequent use of concentrate, more quickly if commercial rather than UK concentrate was used.’
It adds: ‘The new hepatitis C antibody test has shown the majority of severe haemophiliacs to be positive.’
Despite the scale of the scandal, none of the government officials, doctors or drug companies responsible has faced criminal charges. In France, which used the same blood products, up to 30 people have been prosecuted over charges including negligence and deception. Two people have been jailed.
The public inquiry began last month and it is being chaired by a former High Court judge, Sir Brian Langstaff. Over three days of preliminary hearings, victims and relatives gave emotional accounts of how their lives had been devastated after being diagnosed with HIV and hepatitis.
The inquiry is now gathering evidence in the form of written documents and statements from witnesses. It will begin hearing from victims at the end of April, followed by doctors and government officials, and is expected to last at least two years.
A Department of Health spokesman said it was unable to comment due to the ongoing inquiry.
Most watched News videos
- Terrifying moment driver overtakes van and narrowly avoids crash
- Maryland's Key Bridge collapses after struck by container ship
- Camilla hands out gifts at Royal Maundy ceremony on behalf of King
- Starmer and Rayner embrace as they launch election campaign
- Police tape off Kennington station after 'multiple stabbings'
- Tourist is filmed napping in his tent on the beach with a crocodile
- British man fighting for Putin posts video from Russia online
- EasyJet pilot aborts landing at London Gatwick Airport due to storm
- Sally Nugent hilariously finds out 'hedgehog' is a hat bobble
- Police surround Kennington tube station after reports of stabbing
- Moments after Baltimore bridge struck by a container vessel
- Hilarious moment King's Guard shout 'make way' at pigeons in London