BMJ 2015;350:h1673 doi: 10.1136/bmj.h1673 (Published 26 March 2015)
Page 1 of 1
News
NEWS UK government apologises for contaminated blood scandal Jacqui Wise London
An inquiry into why thousands of people in Scotland contracted hepatitis C and HIV in the 1970s and ’80s from NHS blood and blood products has concluded that there were “few aspects in which matters could, or should, have been handled differently.”1 The inquiry, headed by a former High Court judge, Lord Penrose, made only a single recommendation—that everyone who had a blood transfusion before September 1991 who has not yet been tested for hepatitis C should be offered a test. When the findings were read out, shouts of “whitewash” were heard from relatives of those affected. The inquiry concluded that 478 people acquired the hepatitis C virus from blood product therapy in Scotland and that 2500 acquired the virus from blood transfusion in Scotland from 1970 to 1991. Sixty patients acquired HIV from therapy with blood products and 18 from blood transfusion in Scotland. The effect on their lives and those of their loved ones had often been devastating, Penrose said in a statement read out on his behalf at the report’s launch. Scotland is the only part of the United Kingdom to have held an inquiry into the contamination. It was set up in 2008 and included 200 witness statements and more than 13 000 pages of transcript. The final report ran to some 1800 pages.
Speaking at prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons, Prime Minister David Cameron apologised to victims of the contaminated blood scandal. “It is difficult to imagine the feelings of unfairness that people must feel as a result of being infected by something like hepatitis C or HIV as a result of a totally unrelated treatment within the NHS, and to each and every one of these people I would like to say sorry on behalf of the government for something that should not have happened.” He announced that as much as £25m (€34m; $37m) would be allocated from the Department of Health’s 2015-16 budget allocation to improve the system of financial support for people in the UK who had been affected. Shona Robison, Scottish health secretary, also apologised on behalf of the Scottish NHS and Scottish government to everyone who had been affected by the “terrible tragedy.” The inquiry concluded that actions in Scotland held up to international comparison. Once the risk of HIV/AIDS from blood or blood products emerged, all that could reasonably be
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
done was done in the areas of donor selection, heat treatment of blood products, and screening of donated blood, it found. It also said that, other than by stopping therapy with concentrates, the infection with HIV of patients with haemophilia from 1980 to 1984 could not have been prevented.
However, the inquiry concluded that a delay had occurred in starting to screen donated blood for hepatitis C. The first test kits for the hepatitis C virus became available from the United States in November 1989. The report said that a decision to recommend the introduction of screening should have been taken by mid-May 1990 rather than in November 1990. After the decision it then took 10 months for screening to actually start. The policy at the time was for a uniform start date across the UK, although some areas were ready to begin considerably earlier than others. Screening across the whole of the UK did not begin until 1 September 1991. The inquiry also found that the collection of blood from prisoners, which ended in 1984, should have stopped sooner. A significant increase in drug dependency was seen among prisoners, especially in 1983 and 1984, the report said. It said that, with the benefit of hindsight, blood collection from prisons was inadvisable and should have stopped earlier.
The report noted that clinical staff had also suffered when they realised that treatments they thought were beneficial to patients had actually caused them to become infected with life threatening conditions. “This is the stuff of nightmares, and they too have suffered, especially when accused of knowing or deliberate attempts to harm patients, of which the inquiry found no evidence,” said the report.
Penrose said that many people who contacted the inquiry thought that they had not been given enough information at the time about the risks of treatment. He said that the doctor-patient relationship was paternalistic at the time and that doctors were not used to sharing all available information with patients in the way they do today. 1
The Penrose inquiry: final report. March 2015. www.penroseinquiry.org.uk/finalreport/pdf/ penrose_inquiry_final_report.pdf.
Cite this as: BMJ 2015;350:h1673 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2015
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
Page 1 of 1
News
NEWS UK government apologises for contaminated blood scandal Jacqui Wise London
An inquiry into why thousands of people in Scotland contracted hepatitis C and HIV in the 1970s and ’80s from NHS blood and blood products has concluded that there were “few aspects in which matters could, or should, have been handled differently.”1 The inquiry, headed by a former High Court judge, Lord Penrose, made only a single recommendation—that everyone who had a blood transfusion before September 1991 who has not yet been tested for hepatitis C should be offered a test. When the findings were read out, shouts of “whitewash” were heard from relatives of those affected. The inquiry concluded that 478 people acquired the hepatitis C virus from blood product therapy in Scotland and that 2500 acquired the virus from blood transfusion in Scotland from 1970 to 1991. Sixty patients acquired HIV from therapy with blood products and 18 from blood transfusion in Scotland. The effect on their lives and those of their loved ones had often been devastating, Penrose said in a statement read out on his behalf at the report’s launch. Scotland is the only part of the United Kingdom to have held an inquiry into the contamination. It was set up in 2008 and included 200 witness statements and more than 13 000 pages of transcript. The final report ran to some 1800 pages.
Speaking at prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons, Prime Minister David Cameron apologised to victims of the contaminated blood scandal. “It is difficult to imagine the feelings of unfairness that people must feel as a result of being infected by something like hepatitis C or HIV as a result of a totally unrelated treatment within the NHS, and to each and every one of these people I would like to say sorry on behalf of the government for something that should not have happened.” He announced that as much as £25m (€34m; $37m) would be allocated from the Department of Health’s 2015-16 budget allocation to improve the system of financial support for people in the UK who had been affected. Shona Robison, Scottish health secretary, also apologised on behalf of the Scottish NHS and Scottish government to everyone who had been affected by the “terrible tragedy.” The inquiry concluded that actions in Scotland held up to international comparison. Once the risk of HIV/AIDS from blood or blood products emerged, all that could reasonably be
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
done was done in the areas of donor selection, heat treatment of blood products, and screening of donated blood, it found. It also said that, other than by stopping therapy with concentrates, the infection with HIV of patients with haemophilia from 1980 to 1984 could not have been prevented.
However, the inquiry concluded that a delay had occurred in starting to screen donated blood for hepatitis C. The first test kits for the hepatitis C virus became available from the United States in November 1989. The report said that a decision to recommend the introduction of screening should have been taken by mid-May 1990 rather than in November 1990. After the decision it then took 10 months for screening to actually start. The policy at the time was for a uniform start date across the UK, although some areas were ready to begin considerably earlier than others. Screening across the whole of the UK did not begin until 1 September 1991. The inquiry also found that the collection of blood from prisoners, which ended in 1984, should have stopped sooner. A significant increase in drug dependency was seen among prisoners, especially in 1983 and 1984, the report said. It said that, with the benefit of hindsight, blood collection from prisons was inadvisable and should have stopped earlier.
The report noted that clinical staff had also suffered when they realised that treatments they thought were beneficial to patients had actually caused them to become infected with life threatening conditions. “This is the stuff of nightmares, and they too have suffered, especially when accused of knowing or deliberate attempts to harm patients, of which the inquiry found no evidence,” said the report.
Penrose said that many people who contacted the inquiry thought that they had not been given enough information at the time about the risks of treatment. He said that the doctor-patient relationship was paternalistic at the time and that doctors were not used to sharing all available information with patients in the way they do today. 1
The Penrose inquiry: final report. March 2015. www.penroseinquiry.org.uk/finalreport/pdf/ penrose_inquiry_final_report.pdf.
Cite this as: BMJ 2015;350:h1673 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2015
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
