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)

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)

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 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.

‘My lawyer told me to sign it before I die’ 

Adrian, who is in his 50s and lives in the West Midlands, is one of just 240 victims with both HIV and hepatitis C still alive.

He has haemophilia and was told by his doctor he had been infected an ‘incalculable’ number of times with the viruses through Factor VIII injections in the 1970s and 1980s.

He found out he had HIV when he was in his early 20s and began taking legal action against the Department of Health and local health bodies alongside 1,240 haemophiliacs who also had the virus.

But in 1991, he was urged by his solicitors to sign a contract – a ‘waiver’ – promising to end the legal action in return for £24,000.

Adrian, who does not want to disclose his full identity due to the stigma of HIV, said he believed his solicitors were ‘leant on’ by the department to persuade all patients to accept the money.

He said: ‘Myself and my wife had to go to our solicitor and he told us there was an ex-gratia payment, but it wouldn’t be paid if one person didn’t sign this particular bit of paper. There was 1,243 of us initially infected.

‘You were made to feel guilty that if you didn’t sign it then nobody else would get the money either. At the time people were dying and they were severely ill. We were really press-ganged into it.

‘The solicitor told me that a court case would drag this out and I wouldn’t see the end of it.’

At the time, Adrian didn’t know he had hepatitis C, although the Department of Health was fully aware that all victims had been infected with the virus.

He said he was puzzled as to why the document mentioned hepatitis – when he thought he only had HIV – but he didn’t pursue the matter further.

‘I was having to get my house in order and prepare to die. It seemed like signing this thing was no other option. My solicitor said to me if this goes to court you won’t see it through – you’ll be dead.’

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‘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

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)

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.

What is hepatitis C and how can it be treated? 

Hepatitis C is a viral infection that causes liver inflammation, sometimes leading to serious liver damage.

Today, chronic hepatitis C is usually curable with oral medications taken every day for two to six months.

However, about half of those infected with hepatitis C don't know they're infected, mainly because they have no symptoms, which can take decades to appear.

These include bleeding and bruising easily, fatigue, poor appetite, yellowing of the eyes and skin, dark colored urine and itchy skin. 

Hepatitis C spreads when blood contaminated with the virus enters the bloodstream of an uninfected person.  

People who have received a piercing or tattoo in an unclean environment are also at risk, as are individuals who have injected or inhaled illicit drugs. 

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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.

A scandal sparked with blood sold by US prisoners

The blood contamination scandal was sparked by tainted blood plasma products that were given to thousands of NHS patients including haemophiliacs or those needing transfusions.

A new treatment introduced in the early 1970s involved the use of clotting agent Factor VIII.

Since Britain was struggling to keep up with the demand, supplies were sourced from the US.

Much of the plasma used to make the product came from donors such as prison inmates, drug addicts and prostitutes - who sold blood which turned out to be infected.

By the mid-1980s, the blood was being heat-treated to kill viruses, but thousands of patients had already been infected.

Around 5,000 people with haemophilia and other blood disorders are thought to have been infected with HIV and hepatitis over a period of more than 20 years, according to the BBC. Almost 3,000 of them have since died.

Prime Minister Theresa May announced in July last year that an inquiry would be held into the events over the two decades.

The announcement was welcomed at the time by campaigners, who have been pressing for years for an inquiry into the import of the clotting agent Factor VIII from the US.

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