British
authorities and the country's public health service knowingly exposed tens of
thousands of patients to deadly infections through contaminated blood and blood
products, and hid the truth about the disaster for decades.
An estimated
3,000 people in the UK died and many others were left with lifelong illnesses
after receiving blood or blood products tainted with HIV or hepatitis in the
1970s to the early 1990s.
The scandal
is the deadliest disaster in the history of Britain’s state-run National Health
Service since its inception in 1948.
Former judge
Brian Langstaff, who chaired the inquiry, slammed successive governments and
medical professionals for “a catalogue of failures” and refusal to admit
responsibility to save face and expense.
He found that deliberate attempts were made to conceal the scandal, and there was evidence of government officials destroying documents.
“This disaster was not an accident. The
infections happened because those in authority — doctors, the blood services
and successive governments — did not put patient safety first,” he said.
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