Article 3ZE1A Infected blood victims may not yet have been told why they feel ill, inquiry hears

Infected blood victims may not yet have been told why they feel ill, inquiry hears

by
Owen Bowcott
from World news | The Guardian on (#3ZE1A)

Investigation begins into scandal thought to have killed more than 2,000 people

Thousands of victims of the contaminated blood scandal may not yet have been told the reasons why they are feeling unwell, the chair of the inquiry has said.

Formally opening the infected blood inquiry, Sir Brian Langstaff said that many people may not have been diagnosed as suffering from hepatitis C, which they acquired through blood transfusions they received when they were younger.

"It is a truly sobering thought," he said, "that if some claims are well-founded - and it will be for this inquiry to find out if they are - there may yet be many thousands more who do not feel well but have not yet been told that the reason for this is that their life is threatened by hepatitis C. [It is] a sobering thought that the consequences of what was done then may be continuing to cause death even now."

The inquiry will investigate how so many people with haemophilia and other conditions were given blood plasma from the US carrying HIV and hepatitis C viruses. Some products were made from blood donated by prisoners and drug addicts who were paid.

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