[ad_1]
A public inquiry into the tainted blood scandal that left at least 2,400 dead is the worst tragedy to hit the NHS, according to the victims.
At the long-awaited hearing opening in London, the concerned patients also called for suing officials.
The survey will examine the treatment of thousands of people in the 1970s and 1980s who received blood products infected with hepatitis and HIV, and the impact that it had.
The people of Northern Ireland are among those who will testify, especially a man who was infected in adolescence when he underwent eye surgery in 1974 as a result of a car accident. It was only in the 1990s that he discovered that he was infected with hepatitis C during the procedure.
"In my thirties, it became obvious that something was wrong," said Nigel Hamilton, a man from Co Antrim, at the BBC.
He said that it had been a "hammer blow" for him and his family when he was diagnosed and that he had to inform his wife and children that they too needed to be tested. screening.
"At this point, I was married and father of four sons … it devastated my marriage, unfortunately all confidence has disappeared.
"I lost a lot."
Expressing the day of the opening of the hearing, which is expected to last two and a half years, the victim Michelle Tolley of Norfolk said:
"All those who could be responsible … they must be held responsible and prosecuted when necessary – I firmly believe it," said the mother of four.
"People need to know that this tragedy has happened," she said. "This is the worst tragedy in NHS history and it must never happen again, absolutely never."
Aged 53, she was infected after a blood transfusion after the birth of her child in 1987 and another in 1991 – she finally discovered in 2015 that she was suffering from hepatitis C.
Sir Brian Langstaff, chairman of the investigation commission, had previously said that the investigation would look into whether there had been an attempt to conceal the scandal and promised a "thorough examination of the evidence".
According to the terms of reference, published in July, the survey will look at "there have been attempts to conceal the details of what happened" through the destruction of documents or the retention of documents. # 39; information.
It will also consider whether these attempts were deliberate and whether "there has been a lack of openness or openness" in the response of the UK government, NHS bodies and other officials to the affected people.
Prime Minister Theresa May announced in July last year that a survey would be conducted on events over the past two decades, when thousands of hemophilia patients and other patients in the UK received blood products infected.
The announcement was welcomed at the time by activists who had been calling for years for an investigation into the importation of Factor VIII coagulant from the United States.
Much of the plasma used to make the product came from donors such as prisoners, who sold blood that was found to be infected.
Source link
