More people who have lost loved ones in the “biggest medical disaster in the NHS” should be eligible for compensation, the head of the Infected Blood Inquiry has recommended.
In July last year, an inquiry recommended £100,000 in advance compensation for the victims of the contaminated blood scandal. The ministers said advance payments of around £400m in January 2023 showed they were taking on a “moral responsibility” to help the victims.
Study leader Sir Brian Langstaff, a former Supreme Court Justice, said the parents of nearly 400 HIV-infected children, some of whom died in infancy, should also be compensated because they are “recognised so far.” Sir Brian recommended that the government continue to provide temporary benefits to these dependents and “guarante alimony for life”.
Sir Brian said: “I believe this is necessary for the immediate relief of suffering. The fact is that about 380 children with bleeding disorders have become infected with HIV. Some of them died in infancy. But her parents never received any compensation. Children orphaned as a result of infections transmitted by transfusion of blood and blood products, the loss of which has never been confirmed. It’s time to fix it.”
Sir Brian said the compensation scheme should be put in place immediately and payouts “this year”. The level of compensation depends on the type of infection and its impact, which is determined by an independent clinical commission.
Given the number of people affected by the scandal, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of people who contracted HIV and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1970s and 1980s, the government is likely to face a billion-pound bill.
In issuing a second interim report on the investigation on Wednesday morning, which sets out a framework for victim compensation, Sir Brian said the range of effects of the award should be determined by an independent judiciary and be consistent with what is normally awarded at law in personal injury litigation. .
Sir Brian said: “Infected and affected people have been seeking recognition for decades that they have been wronged and rejected; receiving social support, but never compensation; they said that everything was done as well as it could be, although they had reason to believe that it was not. When they tried to test these views with meaningful research, they were told they couldn’t get one.
“It’s an unusual move to publish recovery recommendations before detailed results, but I can’t add to the decades of delay many of you have already experienced when you didn’t realize the magnitude of your losses. These delays were harmful in themselves.”
Sir Brian said: “I think the government did the right thing in accepting this. My conclusion is that violations were committed at the individual, collective and systemic levels. I will explain in detail what happened and why in my detailed report, but I believe that not only the infections themselves and their consequences deserve redress, but also the mistakes made by the authorities, whose response was to increase the suffering of the people.
“This has been called the worst medical disaster in the history of the NHS and we have a lot to learn as a nation to ensure that people never suffer the way they did before. I will explain this in my full report.”
Sir Brian also recommended that specialized psychological support be available in England, as is already done in the rest of the UK.
“It should be right not only to recognize the losses suffered by people through reparations, but also to provide specialized psychological assistance, which has not been provided to the infected and injured in recent decades,” he said.
After Easter, the research team will visit cities across the UK to give people the opportunity to ask questions and talk to other study participants, Sir Brian said. The final report will be written “as soon as I can,” he said.
In 2017, then Prime Minister Theresa May ordered a public inquiry into what she called “a terrible tragedy that simply shouldn’t have happened.”
Many of the contaminated products were imported from overseas, from countries such as the US, after the UK was unable to meet patient demand. Nurses and doctors in the US collected blood from drug addicts and prisoners. About 1,350 people have contracted HIV and 26,800 people have contracted hepatitis C. About 2,400 Britons have died as a result of this. Most of the participants had hemophilia with a bleeding disorder and received injections of the US product Factor VIII.
Sam Stein KC, who represents 23 people affected by contaminated blood or blood products, including family members who supported a partner during a terminal illness, told the Infected Blood Inquiry in February that they “really got through the worst of times.”
In the latest closing files of the investigation, after nearly four years of gathering evidence in the UK, Mr Stein said of the victims he represents: “Our clients have been infected, affected and killed by this scandal. Our clients’ lives have been devastated and ruined by their exposure to contaminated blood products and their loved ones.”
The Department of Health and Human Services’ written closing statements on the investigation dated December 16 last year stated that the Department acknowledged that “things happened that should not have happened” and that no statement on behalf of the Department would be derogatory towards him. unconditional apology. .
Victims in Ireland have already received over €1bn (£880m) in compensation, with surviving victims receiving up to €1m each.
Rachel Halford, chief executive of the Hepatitis C Trust, said: “This interim report provides a clear answer to the hard facts that individuals and families affected by the scandal have been abandoned at every possible stage by successive governments.
“This government now has the opportunity to correct this injustice and finally bring justice to all those affected. As Sir Brian Langstaff has made clear, this action can and must be taken now. You don’t have to wait for the final report from the Infected Blood Inquiry.
“For decades, people who have received contaminated blood or blood products and their families have been stigmatized, slandered and mistrusted. Only their relentless campaign to expose the true extent of this scandal has made today’s announcement possible. You don’t have to wait any longer.”
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.