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The Observer view on the infected blood scandal: victims of this cruel experiment deserve justice | Observer editorial | The Guardian

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Children being subjected to lethal medical experiments sounds like the plot of a dystopian horror film. Yet that is exactly what happened in the UK in the 1970s and 80s. New documents seen last week by the BBC reveal the extent to which children with haemophilia and other blood clotting disorders were enrolled in clinical trials, often without their parents’ consent. Most of them were infected with HIV or hepatitis C as a result of being treated with blood products that doctors knew could kill them. At one boarding school for boys with haemophilia used by the doctors conducting these trials, Treloar College in Hampshire, 75 out of the 122 pupils who attended between 1974 and 1987 have died as a result of their HIV or hepatitis C infections. These children are just some of the victims of the infected blood scandal, the worst medical scandal in the history of the NHS. It is thought that around 30,000 people were infected with HIV and/or hepatitis C, a virus that can cause liver cancer, t

Campaigners, including many victims of the infected blood scandal, stage a protest at Westminster, London, calling for immediate and broader compensation. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA View image in fullscreen Campaigners, including many victims of the infected blood scandal, stage a protest at Westminster, London, calling for immediate and broader compensation. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA Opinion Contaminated blood scandal This article is more than 2 years old The Observer view on the infected blood scandal: victims of this cruel experiment deserve justice This article is more than 2 years

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