LONDON (AP) — 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 inquiry into the U.K.’s infected blood scandal found Monday.
An estimated 3,000 people in the United Kingdom are believed to have 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 widely seen as 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.
Bella Hadid goes braless in a thigh
Jason Kelce to be part of 'Monday Night Football' pregame show, ESPN announces
China's FAST telescope discovers distant gas
The unstoppable duo of Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos
Our daughter, six, died of sepsis just days before Christmas
Our daughter, six, died of sepsis just days before Christmas
Final Preakness at Pimlico before rebuilding stirs nostalgia mixed with relief for needed fixes
College baseball notebook: Conference tournaments to decide NCAA automatic bids and many at
Supreme Court rejects an appeal from a Canadian man once held at Guantanamo
Sheriff faces questions from Arkansas lawmakers over Netflix series filmed at county jail