3:14:49 > 3:14:53It is the worst disaster in the history of the NHS.
3:14:53 > 3:14:57Who's to blame? Are they stupid or just incompetent?
3:14:57 > 3:15:00It's one or the other, isn't it? It's somebody's fault.
3:15:00 > 3:15:03Over 2,000 have died,
3:15:03 > 3:15:06thousands more are still suffering.
3:15:06 > 3:15:10I was someone who looked like that classical AIDS case.
3:15:10 > 3:15:14I looked like I really hadn't got long for this world at all.
3:15:14 > 3:15:19The victims were all given contaminated blood products
3:15:19 > 3:15:21more than 25 years ago.
3:15:21 > 3:15:24We understood that there were risks.
3:15:24 > 3:15:27What we didn't understand was the magnitude of what was about to happen.
3:15:27 > 3:15:31At just one school for disabled children,
3:15:31 > 3:15:34dozens were infected with lethal viruses.
3:15:36 > 3:15:3872 people went to school,
3:15:38 > 3:15:41left school, and died.
3:15:41 > 3:15:46How did that happen to children?
3:15:47 > 3:15:52Even now, new cases are still being diagnosed.
3:15:52 > 3:15:54I get angry days and I'm frightened I'm going to die.
3:15:56 > 3:16:01This is one of the greatest injustices our country has ever seen.
3:16:01 > 3:16:04Thousands of lives lost, and yet,
3:16:04 > 3:16:07the truth about it has never been told.
3:16:07 > 3:16:11This is the story of Britain's contaminated blood disaster
3:16:11 > 3:16:14and the search for the truth.
3:16:14 > 3:16:17This is... This is a death sentence.
3:16:28 > 3:16:30BIRDS CRY
3:16:32 > 3:16:36Twice a week, Janet and Colin Smith visit their son's grave.
3:16:39 > 3:16:40Hello, my little boy.
3:16:44 > 3:16:45God bless.
3:16:47 > 3:16:50Colin died in 1990,
3:16:50 > 3:16:52he was just seven years old.
3:16:53 > 3:16:56God, I miss him so much sometimes.
3:16:56 > 3:16:59Some days it's really hard.
3:17:01 > 3:17:03He could have lived a normal life, you know.
3:17:05 > 3:17:08He was such a lovely little boy.
3:17:10 > 3:17:11Just so unnecessary.
3:17:13 > 3:17:17Colin was born with a bleeding disorder, haemophilia.
3:17:18 > 3:17:21But it was the treatment he was given that ultimately killed him.
3:17:23 > 3:17:27I didn't know that any blood products or anything like that,
3:17:27 > 3:17:29you could just get HIV.
3:17:29 > 3:17:30We didn't have a clue.
3:17:33 > 3:17:34Three decades on,
3:17:34 > 3:17:39the Smiths still want the NHS and the government held to account.
3:17:42 > 3:17:46Just recognise it, just, you know, you murdered him.
3:17:46 > 3:17:50I... I know that's a strong word, but that's how
3:17:50 > 3:17:54me and all the other people with tainted blood look at it.
3:17:54 > 3:17:57Because it's murder. It's just bloody murder.
3:17:57 > 3:18:00- You shouldn't swear. - I know I shouldn't swear,
3:18:00 > 3:18:04but I get angry about it because they don't take any notice.
3:18:06 > 3:18:10But the tragedy didn't end with the deaths of patients like Colin.
3:18:12 > 3:18:16Michelle Tolley is one of the latest victims.
3:18:18 > 3:18:20In 2015, Michelle was working for Tesco.
3:18:20 > 3:18:25And she'd been chosen to appear in one of the company's staff videos.
3:18:25 > 3:18:27- Hi, I'm Ciaran.- Hi, I'm Michelle.
3:18:27 > 3:18:31I was doing the Christmas Tesco adverts for the television.
3:18:31 > 3:18:32Come on, let's go.
3:18:32 > 3:18:35'And we had our own little film crew.
3:18:35 > 3:18:37'It was after then,'
3:18:37 > 3:18:38about a week or two,
3:18:38 > 3:18:42that my health suddenly took a turn for the worse.
3:18:43 > 3:18:47Michelle went to her GP and had a blood test.
3:18:47 > 3:18:49The test was done there and then.
3:18:49 > 3:18:53And he actually phoned me at home the next afternoon...
3:18:53 > 3:18:54and told me...
3:18:57 > 3:18:59..that it had come back positive.
3:18:59 > 3:19:00And I was like,
3:19:00 > 3:19:06"No, no, no, you're telling me I've had hepatitis C for 28 years?"
3:19:08 > 3:19:12Growing silently, because they call it the silent killer.
3:19:13 > 3:19:16Hepatitis C has given Michelle sclerosis of the liver,
3:19:16 > 3:19:18which can cause cancer.
3:19:18 > 3:19:20She is now being treated,
3:19:20 > 3:19:24but the damage that's already been done could prove fatal.
3:19:24 > 3:19:28You know, there's people out there that have already lost lives,
3:19:28 > 3:19:30lost loved ones, etc, through it.
3:19:32 > 3:19:38I can't understand why the government won't accept the responsibility.
3:19:38 > 3:19:41And it's been allowed to go on for 40 years.
3:19:41 > 3:19:43This is the fourth decade.
3:19:47 > 3:19:49And I'm frightened I'm going to die.
3:19:53 > 3:19:57Michelle and Colin are just two of many thousands infected over
3:19:57 > 3:20:02more than a decade by NHS treatments that were supposed to help them.
3:20:02 > 3:20:05The victims and their families are still trying to understand
3:20:05 > 3:20:09how things could have gone so disastrously wrong.
3:20:11 > 3:20:13Hello.
3:20:13 > 3:20:17Adrian Goodyear, like Colin, suffers from haemophilia.
3:20:17 > 3:20:18Talk to me? No? No.
3:20:18 > 3:20:21It means his blood can't clot properly.
3:20:21 > 3:20:25And without treatment, he could bleed uncontrollably.
3:20:25 > 3:20:29I have a weekly injection to help my blood to clot, basically.
3:20:29 > 3:20:31If not, I get internal bleeding,
3:20:31 > 3:20:35you get something called a rush bleed when you're really only have
3:20:35 > 3:20:39about 20 minutes before the joint or muscle is completely solid
3:20:39 > 3:20:41and filled with blood inside.
3:20:41 > 3:20:45If you've ever broken a bone, it's the same. It's the same pain.
3:20:47 > 3:20:50About one in 10,000 children are born with haemophilia.
3:20:50 > 3:20:52Most of them boys.
3:20:52 > 3:20:56Their internal bleeds can be life-threatening.
3:20:56 > 3:20:57And before modern treatments,
3:20:57 > 3:21:02modern haemophiliacs didn't survive beyond their teenage years.
3:21:04 > 3:21:09Growing up in the '70s, Adrian had a hard time at his local school.
3:21:10 > 3:21:13The first day when I arrived in my middle school,
3:21:13 > 3:21:16the headmaster made the mistake of holding me up in front of
3:21:16 > 3:21:20the whole school saying, "Do not hit this young boy
3:21:20 > 3:21:23"cos he has haemophilia and he will bleed."
3:21:23 > 3:21:28Now, could you imagine how that played out the next four years?
3:21:28 > 3:21:30At school. "What happens if I hit you?"
3:21:30 > 3:21:31Dot, dot, dot.
3:21:31 > 3:21:34They couldn't cope with my condition.
3:21:34 > 3:21:37It would take four days to get over one bleed.
3:21:37 > 3:21:41So you'd be in hospital for a week and you'd miss so much school.
3:21:41 > 3:21:43Much school was missed.
3:21:46 > 3:21:48But in 1980, Adrian was given the chance
3:21:48 > 3:21:52to go to Treloar's, a specialist school for disabled children.
3:21:55 > 3:22:00'280 boys and girls, aged eight to 19, attend this remarkable school.'
3:22:00 > 3:22:03I ended up at the age of ten going to Treloar's.
3:22:03 > 3:22:07But it was a boarding school and it was completely unique.
3:22:09 > 3:22:13It was an old Elizabethan mansion, it was like Harry Potter's.
3:22:13 > 3:22:14It was incredible.
3:22:15 > 3:22:19And Treloar's had an NHS haemophilia centre on site.
3:22:20 > 3:22:24'The college has many years' experience in managing haemophilia.'
3:22:25 > 3:22:28It was the only school in the world like it.
3:22:28 > 3:22:31When I went there, there were about 35 haemophilia boys.
3:22:32 > 3:22:36There was a medical centre, nurses, physiotherapists.
3:22:37 > 3:22:40You would never have to miss a class ever again.
3:22:43 > 3:22:45A few years above was Joseph Petie.
3:22:47 > 3:22:50I was 13 when I went to Treloar's.
3:22:50 > 3:22:52And, yeah, it was a very different experience
3:22:52 > 3:22:55to anything I'd ever had before.
3:22:56 > 3:23:01There was a lot more freedom, it was almost like a seamless existence.
3:23:01 > 3:23:04You were at the college, but the haemophilia centre was there day or night,
3:23:04 > 3:23:06you'd come out of your dorm, down the corridor
3:23:06 > 3:23:08and you were in there and seeing a doctor.
3:23:08 > 3:23:11Being at Treloar's gave me an ability to become
3:23:11 > 3:23:16more independent and to kind of gain your own perspective on life,
3:23:16 > 3:23:18your own personality, your own character.
3:23:20 > 3:23:23Children at Treloar's were given blood clotting treatments
3:23:23 > 3:23:26that had revolutionised the care of haemophilia -
3:23:26 > 3:23:28factor concentrates.
3:23:28 > 3:23:32The most common was called Factor VIII.
3:23:34 > 3:23:37Factor VIII made the most unimaginable difference.
3:23:37 > 3:23:39Because you could have your jab,
3:23:39 > 3:23:41you'd probably be off your feet only for a day,
3:23:41 > 3:23:44you weren't worried about getting on your bike or your skateboard or,
3:23:44 > 3:23:47you know, going out with your friends up the park.
3:23:48 > 3:23:52Factor VIII stopped bleeds quickly and could even prevent them.
3:23:52 > 3:23:55And patients could treat themselves.
3:23:55 > 3:23:59'At Treloar's all haemophilic boys are taught from an early age
3:23:59 > 3:24:00'how to manage their disorder.'
3:24:00 > 3:24:02That's my good friend Simon, bless him,
3:24:02 > 3:24:04no longer with us any more.
3:24:05 > 3:24:07And this is what we would have to do.
3:24:07 > 3:24:09We'd have to learn how to mix your Factor VIII up,
3:24:09 > 3:24:12pop it in a bottle, give it a mix
3:24:12 > 3:24:14and then learn to inject it.
3:24:14 > 3:24:18And it wasn't only patients who were impressed by Factor VIII.
3:24:18 > 3:24:23I think that people were very excited by the success of Factor VIII.
3:24:23 > 3:24:26There were a number of physicians across the country
3:24:26 > 3:24:31who saw the enormous benefits and became, I think,
3:24:31 > 3:24:35quite overwhelmed by how wonderful things were, really.
3:24:36 > 3:24:40But there were some concerns about Factor VIII.
3:24:40 > 3:24:43It was made by pooling together the plasma
3:24:43 > 3:24:46of thousands of blood donations in huge vats.
3:24:46 > 3:24:49And if just one donor had an infection,
3:24:49 > 3:24:52it would contaminate the whole batch.
3:24:53 > 3:24:56The biggest manufacturers were in America
3:24:56 > 3:24:59where people were often paid to give blood.
3:24:59 > 3:25:01And those who needed the money
3:25:01 > 3:25:04were also those most likely to be carrying infections.
3:25:06 > 3:25:10The NHS was already importing American Factor VIII
3:25:10 > 3:25:13when David Owen became Health Minister.
3:25:13 > 3:25:19There was an appalling situation for collecting blood
3:25:19 > 3:25:22from people who were in prisons, from people who were on drugs.
3:25:23 > 3:25:26And yet we continued to use these blood supplies.
3:25:28 > 3:25:30A common infection was hepatitis.
3:25:31 > 3:25:36But doctors felt the benefits of Factor VIII outweighed the risks.
3:25:37 > 3:25:42I think it was fair to say that hepatitis didn't seem to be
3:25:42 > 3:25:45a serious problem at that time.
3:25:45 > 3:25:49The UK did make some of its own Factor VIII.
3:25:49 > 3:25:52All blood products have a degree of risk,
3:25:52 > 3:25:55but British Factor VIII was thought to be safer
3:25:55 > 3:25:57because donors here were not paid.
3:26:00 > 3:26:04In Scotland, they tried to avoid using American products altogether.
3:26:05 > 3:26:08We took the view that this stuff is lethal.
3:26:08 > 3:26:11We took the view that this is sleepwalking to disaster.
3:26:11 > 3:26:14Right from the word go.
3:26:14 > 3:26:15David Owen was determined
3:26:15 > 3:26:19that the rest of the UK should also avoid American imports.
3:26:20 > 3:26:26What we had to decide was to increase our own blood supplies
3:26:26 > 3:26:29from our own blood transfusion service
3:26:29 > 3:26:32at every level of blood transfusion.
3:26:32 > 3:26:37And that's a decision we took in '75 - to become self-sufficient.
3:26:39 > 3:26:43But David Owen left the Department of Health in 1976.
3:26:43 > 3:26:46And self-sufficiency was never achieved.
3:26:47 > 3:26:51The winner there is the pharmaceutical industry.
3:26:51 > 3:26:54The losers in that situation are the patients.
3:26:55 > 3:27:01For the patients to win, they want stuff coming from a safe source.
3:27:03 > 3:27:06And that didn't materialise.
3:27:07 > 3:27:09As was needed south of the border.
3:27:11 > 3:27:14The Department of Health told us they tried to make Britain
3:27:14 > 3:27:18self-sufficient, but supply couldn't keep up with demand.
3:27:18 > 3:27:22So they had to rely on American products.
3:27:23 > 3:27:26We understood that there were risks.
3:27:26 > 3:27:28What we didn't understand was the magnitude
3:27:28 > 3:27:30of what was about to happen.
3:27:38 > 3:27:41'Bobby Campbell is one of a rapidly growing group
3:27:41 > 3:27:45'whose battle has fascinated and frightened modern medicine.'
3:27:45 > 3:27:48In 1981, reports began to appear in America
3:27:48 > 3:27:51about a mysterious new disease.
3:27:52 > 3:27:56These were the first signs of what we now call AIDS.
3:27:56 > 3:27:59It's definitely transmissible, just how, I don't know.
3:27:59 > 3:28:03Is it through blood, is it through saliva?
3:28:03 > 3:28:05Nobody knew what it was due to.
3:28:05 > 3:28:08People thought it might well be a transmissible agent,
3:28:08 > 3:28:10probably a virus.
3:28:10 > 3:28:14But people also talked about, of course, the homosexual community,
3:28:14 > 3:28:17the possibility that it might be related to things like poppers,
3:28:17 > 3:28:21the so-called sexually enhancing drugs that people were using.
3:28:21 > 3:28:23AIDS hotline.
3:28:24 > 3:28:26Then, in January 1982,
3:28:26 > 3:28:30the first American haemophiliac was identified with AIDS.
3:28:30 > 3:28:34By the end of the year, there have been nine reported cases,
3:28:34 > 3:28:36and eight of them have died.
3:28:36 > 3:28:39Newspapers here soon raised questions
3:28:39 > 3:28:41about the safety of American blood products.
3:28:49 > 3:28:52There was a Daily Mail story...
3:28:52 > 3:28:54and it was front page.
3:28:55 > 3:28:58Haemophiliacs are at risk from AIDS.
3:28:59 > 3:29:03And that was again a mark that was on a coffee table somewhere
3:29:03 > 3:29:07and you just see the word haemophiliac and AIDS.
3:29:09 > 3:29:12"Hospitals using killer blood."
3:29:12 > 3:29:15Well, that is pretty emotive...
3:29:17 > 3:29:19..by any standard.
3:29:19 > 3:29:22I would arrive in my office about half past seven in the morning,
3:29:22 > 3:29:25and very often, I'd still be there at seven o'clock at night,
3:29:25 > 3:29:31having spent my entire day with the telephone glued to my ear
3:29:31 > 3:29:36with calls from anxiety-ridden patients.
3:29:37 > 3:29:41The Haemophilia Society turned to the country's leading specialist,
3:29:41 > 3:29:43Professor Arthur Bloom.
3:29:43 > 3:29:46He wrote this letter, which was sent out to patients,
3:29:46 > 3:29:49saying that it had not been proven that blood products
3:29:49 > 3:29:53transmitted AIDS, and that the number of cases
3:29:53 > 3:29:56among American haemophiliacs was small.
3:29:56 > 3:30:01We felt that there was a reassurance to be given to patients
3:30:01 > 3:30:05based on what we knew at that time.
3:30:05 > 3:30:08But it's now clear that Professor Bloom knew much more
3:30:08 > 3:30:10than he was telling.
3:30:10 > 3:30:13Eight weeks before he wrote to patients,
3:30:13 > 3:30:15he received this letter,
3:30:15 > 3:30:18which has only recently been made public.
3:30:18 > 3:30:21In it, a leading American specialist, Dr Bruce Evatt,
3:30:21 > 3:30:25tells Bloom that there are already 13 haemophiliacs with AIDS
3:30:25 > 3:30:27in the US.
3:30:27 > 3:30:29They had all been given Factor VIII.
3:30:29 > 3:30:32It would only be a matter of time,
3:30:32 > 3:30:36Evatt suspected, before cases appeared in the UK.
3:30:38 > 3:30:43And on 6th May, the first UK case was reported,
3:30:43 > 3:30:46in Cardiff, where Professor Bloom practised.
3:30:48 > 3:30:51At this point, the head of disease control in England and Wales
3:30:51 > 3:30:53stepped in.
3:30:53 > 3:30:56Dr Spence Galbraith wrote to the Department of Health.
3:30:56 > 3:31:00"All blood products made from blood donated in the USA,"
3:31:00 > 3:31:04he said, "should be withdrawn from use."
3:31:06 > 3:31:10But if that happened, doctors wouldn't have enough Factor VIII
3:31:10 > 3:31:12to treat their patients.
3:31:12 > 3:31:15If that advice had been followed,
3:31:15 > 3:31:18haemophilia care in the United Kingdom would have collapsed.
3:31:18 > 3:31:21There were some very difficult decisions to be made
3:31:21 > 3:31:26around that time. In that one year leading up to the middle of 1983,
3:31:26 > 3:31:30ten people in Britain with haemophilia had died
3:31:30 > 3:31:32of bleeding into the brain.
3:31:32 > 3:31:34Bleeding was the commonest cause of death.
3:31:34 > 3:31:38And in July, the panel that advised the Government on the safety
3:31:38 > 3:31:42of medicines rejected Dr Galbraith's advice.
3:31:42 > 3:31:45The cause of AIDS was unknown, they said,
3:31:45 > 3:31:48and the level of risk did not justify
3:31:48 > 3:31:51withdrawing American products.
3:31:51 > 3:31:55With the hindsight of what happened next,
3:31:55 > 3:31:59you might say, well, actually, perhaps Dr Galbraith was right,
3:31:59 > 3:32:02and perhaps we should have stopped treating people with haemophilia,
3:32:02 > 3:32:04but it didn't seem like it at the time.
3:32:06 > 3:32:10That summer, Adrian Goodyear was spending the school holidays
3:32:10 > 3:32:12at home with his family.
3:32:12 > 3:32:15I was down in Portsmouth,
3:32:15 > 3:32:17I was about 13.
3:32:18 > 3:32:20I was mixing up my dose at home
3:32:20 > 3:32:24because, by then, I'd learned how to mix up my own injection.
3:32:26 > 3:32:28I'd mixed my jab, took it,
3:32:28 > 3:32:32but a week after that jab, I felt terrible.
3:32:32 > 3:32:34Glands went billy-o.
3:32:34 > 3:32:35Mum...
3:32:37 > 3:32:40..took me back to our local GP several times in that summer.
3:32:43 > 3:32:45So, yeah, '83.
3:32:45 > 3:32:47That was my day.
3:32:47 > 3:32:49It was definitely HIV coming in.
3:32:51 > 3:32:55There was a period where I was ill for 12 months.
3:32:55 > 3:32:59It was like the worst case of flu that I've ever had.
3:32:59 > 3:33:01I couldn't shake it off.
3:33:01 > 3:33:04I was at Treloar's for the whole of that time,
3:33:04 > 3:33:06and talking to my mum on the phone and she was,
3:33:06 > 3:33:09"I can't believe you've still got that cold. What's wrong?"
3:33:09 > 3:33:11Then she raised it with the doctors
3:33:11 > 3:33:14and they were, "We just think it's a cold. He's just having a job
3:33:14 > 3:33:16"fighting it off."
3:33:16 > 3:33:20But looking back, something wasn't right.
3:33:23 > 3:33:25Joseph and Adrian's medical records
3:33:25 > 3:33:29show that, privately, their doctors were concerned about AIDS.
3:33:29 > 3:33:34But both say it was not discussed with them or their parents.
3:33:40 > 3:33:42In Newport, Janet and Colin Smith
3:33:42 > 3:33:45had only just discovered that their son had haemophilia.
3:33:45 > 3:33:47Aw...
3:33:48 > 3:33:50- A self-portrait, that one.- Yeah.
3:33:50 > 3:33:52I love that picture.
3:33:52 > 3:33:55Baby Colin was nine months old at the time,
3:33:55 > 3:33:59and doctors were about to give him Factor VIII.
3:33:59 > 3:34:03His parents say they were told nothing about the risks.
3:34:03 > 3:34:06They never, ever discussed...
3:34:06 > 3:34:08I mean, when Colin had the Factor VIII,
3:34:08 > 3:34:10it was just the Factor VIII,
3:34:10 > 3:34:13and that was the end of it, do you know what I mean?
3:34:13 > 3:34:16We were told that the treatment given was safe, 100% safe.
3:34:16 > 3:34:18Turns out it wasn't.
3:34:20 > 3:34:23But it's clear senior doctors knew there were risks
3:34:23 > 3:34:25and were trying to manage them.
3:34:25 > 3:34:30This letter was sent out to haemophilia centres in June 1983,
3:34:30 > 3:34:34eight weeks before Colin Smith was first treated.
3:34:34 > 3:34:39It recommended that children should be treated with NHS concentrates.
3:34:42 > 3:34:46But in baby Colin's case, that advice wasn't followed,
3:34:46 > 3:34:47and in August 1983,
3:34:47 > 3:34:51he was given his first dose of American Factor VIII,
3:34:51 > 3:34:53just before his first birthday.
3:34:53 > 3:34:57His parents still don't know why that happened.
3:35:00 > 3:35:03By now, questions were also being asked in Parliament,
3:35:03 > 3:35:07but the Government, too, seemed keen to avoid discussing the risks
3:35:07 > 3:35:09from Factor VIII.
3:35:09 > 3:35:14Minister of Health Kenneth Clarke's message to the public was emphatic.
3:35:14 > 3:35:18There was no conclusive evidence that AIDS was transmitted
3:35:18 > 3:35:20by blood products.
3:35:31 > 3:35:35Jason Evans's father was diagnosed with severe haemophilia
3:35:35 > 3:35:37in the late 1960s.
3:35:37 > 3:35:42By the 1980s, Jonathan Evans was working in a DIY shop.
3:35:42 > 3:35:45This is my dad's first job.
3:35:45 > 3:35:48He wanted to be a carpenter.
3:35:48 > 3:35:50He's 18 here.
3:35:50 > 3:35:52He's looking very fresh-faced.
3:35:52 > 3:35:56I think Factor VIII certainly made life easier for him.
3:35:58 > 3:36:01Jason wasn't born when this film was shot,
3:36:01 > 3:36:05but he's recently discovered that, in late 1984,
3:36:05 > 3:36:10Jonathan Evans raised concerns with his doctors about Factor VIII.
3:36:12 > 3:36:15He switched over to another treatment for haemophilia
3:36:15 > 3:36:18that had been used in the 1960s - cryoprecipitate.
3:36:18 > 3:36:23- NEWS REPORT:- This precipitate, containing the missing Factor VIII,
3:36:23 > 3:36:25must be thawed in warm water...
3:36:25 > 3:36:28Each bag of cryoprecipitate came from just one donor,
3:36:28 > 3:36:32so was far less likely to be contaminated than Factor VIII.
3:36:32 > 3:36:35But it was cumbersome and less effective.
3:36:35 > 3:36:38Cryoprecipitate is very difficult to use,
3:36:38 > 3:36:40it's difficult to thaw out, it's difficult to mix,
3:36:40 > 3:36:42it's difficult to give,
3:36:42 > 3:36:45and it causes more allergic responses.
3:36:45 > 3:36:50Reverting to cryoprecipitate was not recommended by most doctors.
3:36:50 > 3:36:54After one treatment, Jonathan Evans went back to Factor VIII.
3:36:54 > 3:36:57I know, through speaking to my mother, obviously,
3:36:57 > 3:37:01he'd spoken to her, and the physicians had advised him
3:37:01 > 3:37:04that it was really nothing to worry about,
3:37:04 > 3:37:08this is kind of sensationalism and not to pay attention to it,
3:37:08 > 3:37:10and he trusted his doctor.
3:37:10 > 3:37:15I think the moment there was a suspicion that
3:37:15 > 3:37:18the AIDS virus may be in these products,
3:37:18 > 3:37:22patients should have been given the choice of whether
3:37:22 > 3:37:24they wanted to take that gamble
3:37:24 > 3:37:26and play Russian roulette with their life,
3:37:26 > 3:37:29and I can almost guarantee you that 99% of them
3:37:29 > 3:37:32would not have taken that gamble.
3:37:32 > 3:37:37The virus causing AIDS was finally identified in April 1984.
3:37:37 > 3:37:41It would become known as HIV.
3:37:41 > 3:37:43Later that year, a test became available,
3:37:43 > 3:37:47and doctors began to discover the scale of the disaster
3:37:47 > 3:37:49that they'd been part of.
3:37:49 > 3:37:53We were asked to bleed all our regularly treated patients,
3:37:53 > 3:37:57and send those blood samples for testing.
3:37:59 > 3:38:01And about a month later,
3:38:01 > 3:38:03I got into my office
3:38:03 > 3:38:06and there were 31 brown envelopes on my desk,
3:38:06 > 3:38:09and I opened the first one and it said, "Positive."
3:38:09 > 3:38:12And I opened the second one and it said, "Positive."
3:38:12 > 3:38:15And I opened the third one and it said, "Positive."
3:38:15 > 3:38:19And after about nine or ten, I came to one that said, "Negative."
3:38:19 > 3:38:22But all the rest were positive.
3:38:22 > 3:38:25You don't go into medicine
3:38:25 > 3:38:27to harm people.
3:38:27 > 3:38:30In my case, the treatment I gave
3:38:30 > 3:38:34not only didn't help, it actually killed patients.
3:38:36 > 3:38:38It was absolutely desperate
3:38:38 > 3:38:42to see a group of people who were being harmed by their treatment.
3:38:44 > 3:38:46This was uncharted territory.
3:38:46 > 3:38:50Doctors had no guidelines about testing patients
3:38:50 > 3:38:52or how to break the news to them.
3:38:54 > 3:38:57Adrian Goodyear was just 14 when he was called in
3:38:57 > 3:39:00for a meeting with his doctors at Treloar's.
3:39:00 > 3:39:04He had no idea that he'd even been tested for HIV.
3:39:05 > 3:39:08We were asked to go as a group of five.
3:39:09 > 3:39:12They went round the room one by one
3:39:12 > 3:39:14and they went, "You have.
3:39:14 > 3:39:16"You haven't.
3:39:16 > 3:39:17"You have. You haven't."
3:39:17 > 3:39:19Slowly and calmly,
3:39:19 > 3:39:21who had HIV and who didn't.
3:39:21 > 3:39:25Three out of the five boys in that room that day
3:39:25 > 3:39:27were HIV positive.
3:39:29 > 3:39:31And I was one of them.
3:39:33 > 3:39:36I looked out the windows, the sunshine was coming in.
3:39:36 > 3:39:40And there was a moment of, that's my last sun.
3:39:41 > 3:39:44That is my last sun.
3:39:45 > 3:39:47We've had it. We're dead. We're all dead.
3:39:54 > 3:39:58Colin Smith was in hospital being given more Factor VIII
3:39:58 > 3:40:01when his parents were given the news.
3:40:01 > 3:40:04- We were told in a corridor, actually.- Yeah.
3:40:04 > 3:40:06We weren't taken into a room and,
3:40:06 > 3:40:09"Sit down, we need to tell you something."
3:40:10 > 3:40:13They said, "Colin's tested positive for HIV."
3:40:13 > 3:40:16Well, we didn't even know what it was, really. We just went, "OK."
3:40:16 > 3:40:18That's how we were told.
3:40:18 > 3:40:23In the corridor of a ward with other children running past us.
3:40:26 > 3:40:28Joseph Peaty was 19
3:40:28 > 3:40:30and had just left Treloar's.
3:40:30 > 3:40:33I was in hospital with a bleed
3:40:33 > 3:40:36and it was a registrar that was going around in the evening,
3:40:36 > 3:40:40and he said, "Do you mind me having a chat to you about haemophilia?"
3:40:40 > 3:40:42And he was going through my notes and,
3:40:42 > 3:40:46"Oh, I see that you're HIV positive."
3:40:47 > 3:40:50By now, Joseph had a girlfriend
3:40:50 > 3:40:53and was thinking of going to university.
3:40:54 > 3:40:57That's a bit of a mind-blowing thing to suddenly have to
3:40:57 > 3:40:59get your head round.
3:40:59 > 3:41:00This is...
3:41:00 > 3:41:02This is a death sentence.
3:41:02 > 3:41:05Your life has just kind of been mapped out
3:41:05 > 3:41:08and you've got two or three years,
3:41:08 > 3:41:11and as far as you know, that's going to be it.
3:41:13 > 3:41:15You know? Turmoil.
3:41:15 > 3:41:17Complete turmoil.
3:41:22 > 3:41:26Jonathan Evans was also tested without his knowledge.
3:41:26 > 3:41:30It was seven months later before he was told.
3:41:32 > 3:41:35My mum was with him, and they were called in to the doctor's office
3:41:35 > 3:41:40and the doctor basically told them both quite bluntly
3:41:40 > 3:41:44that my dad had tested positive for HIV.
3:41:47 > 3:41:50He first tested positive in 1984.
3:41:50 > 3:41:53He wasn't told about that
3:41:53 > 3:41:57till mid-1985, which is, you know, shocking in itself,
3:41:57 > 3:42:00that they would withhold that knowledge,
3:42:00 > 3:42:03obviously putting my mum at risk
3:42:03 > 3:42:05and putting his family at risk.
3:42:18 > 3:42:20Across the world,
3:42:20 > 3:42:22scientists were desperately trying to discover
3:42:22 > 3:42:25how to make blood products safe from HIV.
3:42:25 > 3:42:29They thought that heating the Factor VIII might work.
3:42:32 > 3:42:35And even before the research was conclusive,
3:42:35 > 3:42:39some doctors had switched to experimental heat-treated products.
3:42:42 > 3:42:44We were criticised quite heavily.
3:42:44 > 3:42:47It was just one of those, frankly,
3:42:47 > 3:42:49very rare moments, as a doctor,
3:42:49 > 3:42:54where you have to make a decision which, later on, you look back on
3:42:54 > 3:42:57and say, "Well, I got plenty of decisions wrong,
3:42:57 > 3:42:59"but that one was right,"
3:42:59 > 3:43:02and I, actually, probably did save some lives.
3:43:03 > 3:43:06At the end of 1984,
3:43:06 > 3:43:08US researchers concluded that heat treatment
3:43:08 > 3:43:10did inactivate HIV.
3:43:12 > 3:43:15But there had just been another devastating discovery.
3:43:15 > 3:43:20For the first time, HIV was found in UK blood donations.
3:43:21 > 3:43:25Now not even British Factor VIII was safe from the virus.
3:43:25 > 3:43:30In Scotland, they immediately started making their own
3:43:30 > 3:43:32heat-treated products,
3:43:32 > 3:43:35but in England, things moved much more slowly.
3:43:35 > 3:43:39The evidence was there in the autumn of 1984,
3:43:39 > 3:43:43that heat treatment did inactivate HIV,
3:43:43 > 3:43:46so there was very strong evidence there that the Department of Health
3:43:46 > 3:43:48should have been looking at,
3:43:48 > 3:43:52and yet it takes another nine months for the country
3:43:52 > 3:43:55to be switched over to safer treatment,
3:43:55 > 3:43:59during which time some people probably got infected.
3:44:04 > 3:44:08Sarah's husband was treated at just this time.
3:44:08 > 3:44:11She avoided infection, but wants to remain anonymous.
3:44:13 > 3:44:15She's never told his story publicly before.
3:44:18 > 3:44:19Was my heart broken? Yes.
3:44:19 > 3:44:20Did he suffer? Yes.
3:44:20 > 3:44:22Was it prejudice? Was it pain?
3:44:22 > 3:44:24Was it fear? Was it humiliation?
3:44:24 > 3:44:25Yes, yes, yes and yes.
3:44:26 > 3:44:29On December 16th 1984,
3:44:29 > 3:44:33Sarah's husband had to go to hospital with a serious bleed.
3:44:33 > 3:44:36It was the first time he'd needed treatment for his haemophilia
3:44:36 > 3:44:38in 13 years.
3:44:39 > 3:44:42The significance of this is that when he went for that treatment,
3:44:42 > 3:44:45he would not have been previously exposed to HIV
3:44:45 > 3:44:48and, more importantly, they knew that.
3:44:50 > 3:44:52In fact, just a few days earlier,
3:44:52 > 3:44:56senior doctors had issued new guidelines which said
3:44:56 > 3:45:00that patients not previously exposed to untreated blood products
3:45:00 > 3:45:03should be given cryoprecipitate
3:45:03 > 3:45:07or heated NHS Factor VIII if available.
3:45:13 > 3:45:16Sarah's husband was given unheated Factor VIII.
3:45:18 > 3:45:21Bearing in mind that they knew that there was this massive risk
3:45:21 > 3:45:23from unheated product,
3:45:23 > 3:45:26not only did they give him an unheated product,
3:45:26 > 3:45:28which they shouldn't have done,
3:45:28 > 3:45:31but they actually gave him multiple batches,
3:45:31 > 3:45:33multiplying his risk several times over.
3:45:35 > 3:45:38And when he was tested eight months later,
3:45:38 > 3:45:41Sarah's husband was HIV positive.
3:45:41 > 3:45:44He died in 1998, aged 40.
3:45:45 > 3:45:50The proper treatment for my husband was heated Factor VIII.
3:45:50 > 3:45:53Now, if it were that the clinician did not have access
3:45:53 > 3:45:55to that clotting factor,
3:45:55 > 3:45:58then it just means that the person who is responsible
3:45:58 > 3:46:00is further up the chain.
3:46:01 > 3:46:05What I want people to go away with is not how sad it was,
3:46:05 > 3:46:07but how wrong it was.
3:46:13 > 3:46:16It wasn't until September 1985
3:46:16 > 3:46:20that most Factor VIII in Britain was safe from HIV,
3:46:20 > 3:46:24but for those who'd been infected, the damage had been done...
3:46:24 > 3:46:27AIDS has reached epidemic proportions.
3:46:30 > 3:46:32..and the entire country was now
3:46:32 > 3:46:35in the grip of an AIDS scare.
3:46:35 > 3:46:4048% believed AIDS victims only had themselves to blame.
3:46:40 > 3:46:43Later that night, it's claimed, the man's home was firebombed.
3:46:45 > 3:46:47We were known as "the AIDS family".
3:46:49 > 3:46:51We weren't known as the Smith family.
3:46:51 > 3:46:53We were the AIDS family.
3:46:53 > 3:46:55It was written on the side of the house, yeah.
3:46:55 > 3:46:59- That was huge.- That was, just, "AIDS", in big capital letters.
3:47:01 > 3:47:02So that was the time we said,
3:47:02 > 3:47:04"We've got to move, can't stay here."
3:47:04 > 3:47:07You'd get horrible phone calls in the middle of the night
3:47:07 > 3:47:08and things like that.
3:47:08 > 3:47:11It was a horrendous time. It was horrendous.
3:47:13 > 3:47:18At Treloar's, journalists turned up looking for a story.
3:47:18 > 3:47:21There was two guys standing at the gate
3:47:21 > 3:47:23and asked us, "Hello, boys.
3:47:23 > 3:47:25"Are you haemophiliacs?"
3:47:25 > 3:47:31And a friend of mine went, "Yeah," as you do, a bit defensive.
3:47:31 > 3:47:32Um...and they said,
3:47:32 > 3:47:35"So, what you think about AIDS, then? Have you got AIDS?"
3:47:37 > 3:47:40Luckily, the older boy said, "No comment."
3:47:40 > 3:47:42You know, that's crazy, isn't it?
3:47:42 > 3:47:45You're going down to the shops to get your sweets and your tin of pop,
3:47:45 > 3:47:48and there's two journalists at the gate, asking you questions.
3:47:48 > 3:47:50And that happened two or three times.
3:47:53 > 3:47:54For Jason Evans' parents,
3:47:54 > 3:47:57AIDS meant having to make an agonising decision.
3:47:59 > 3:48:00- VIDEO:- 'And what have you called him?'
3:48:00 > 3:48:03'Jason. JJ, for short.'
3:48:03 > 3:48:05'That got anything to do with Dallas, do you reckon?'
3:48:05 > 3:48:08'No, nothing to do with Dallas. That's JR.'
3:48:09 > 3:48:11My mum and dad wanted a child,
3:48:11 > 3:48:13but obviously, my dad didn't want to infect my mum,
3:48:13 > 3:48:16and my mum didn't want to be infected.
3:48:16 > 3:48:19But they took a risk, and here I am.
3:48:20 > 3:48:22- VIDEO:- 'JJ at three days old, on video.'
3:48:22 > 3:48:23'Four.'
3:48:23 > 3:48:25'Four days old.'
3:48:25 > 3:48:27'He's forgotten the day already!'
3:48:27 > 3:48:29The reason why he and my mum were taking videos
3:48:29 > 3:48:33was for me to have something when I was older, to look back on.
3:48:33 > 3:48:36- VIDEO:- '# Happy birthday to you. #'
3:48:36 > 3:48:37'Give it a blow.'
3:48:37 > 3:48:39'Blow it out!'
3:48:41 > 3:48:45My first memory of my dad is the last time I ever saw him.
3:48:45 > 3:48:47CHILD YELLS ON VIDEO
3:48:47 > 3:48:51It was my birthday, and obviously, I was four years old.
3:48:51 > 3:48:55I remember walking into the room and he was on a bed.
3:48:55 > 3:48:59I remember just being stood in that room for a period of time
3:48:59 > 3:49:00and just, kind of, looking at him,
3:49:00 > 3:49:05but not really understanding what was happening.
3:49:07 > 3:49:09Six weeks after Jason's fourth birthday,
3:49:09 > 3:49:12Jonathan Evans died.
3:49:12 > 3:49:13He was 31 years old.
3:49:18 > 3:49:21Colin Smith was only seven.
3:49:21 > 3:49:24Towards the end, we were picking our son up in sheepskin,
3:49:24 > 3:49:26because we hurt him.
3:49:26 > 3:49:28He'd lost so much weight.
3:49:28 > 3:49:30He was skeletal, wasn't he?
3:49:30 > 3:49:33They did actually say that he was not going to recover.
3:49:36 > 3:49:38My exact words to the doctors then were,
3:49:38 > 3:49:40"Well, if he's going to die, he's going to do it at home.
3:49:40 > 3:49:41"Not here."
3:49:41 > 3:49:44He said to his brother, Daniel, "You'll miss me when I'm gone."
3:49:44 > 3:49:46So he did know.
3:49:47 > 3:49:49We used to have some long discussions,
3:49:49 > 3:49:51cos he couldn't sleep.
3:49:51 > 3:49:52"Why me?"
3:49:52 > 3:49:54I couldn't explain that one to him.
3:49:56 > 3:49:58Saturday, 4:40.
3:49:58 > 3:50:01He just suddenly sat up and said, "Daddy, I can't see."
3:50:01 > 3:50:04So we knew something was going on then.
3:50:04 > 3:50:06- He was dead within a couple of minutes, wasn't he?- Yeah.
3:50:06 > 3:50:08- Yeah.- Very peacefully.
3:50:12 > 3:50:17I picked him up in my arms, for about two-and-a-half hours,
3:50:17 > 3:50:20and then the undertakers came, then, and we had to say goodbye.
3:50:35 > 3:50:38The group which represents Britain's haemophiliacs
3:50:38 > 3:50:42is calling on the government to pay up to £200 million in compensation.
3:50:43 > 3:50:47By 1989, more than 1,200 people in the UK
3:50:47 > 3:50:52were known to have been infected with HIV from contaminated blood
3:50:52 > 3:50:56and over 900 of them decided to sue the government for negligence.
3:50:56 > 3:51:01Surely, Mr Speaker, they would urgently compensate
3:51:01 > 3:51:05haemophiliacs who have contracted the HIV virus.
3:51:07 > 3:51:11The government offered a package of financial support
3:51:11 > 3:51:13without admitting liability.
3:51:13 > 3:51:16- REPORTER:- Haemophiliacs who were given infected blood are expected
3:51:16 > 3:51:20to receive a lump sum payment in the region of £20,000.
3:51:21 > 3:51:24I did...I did think of pounds.
3:51:24 > 3:51:27"How much? How much for my life?"
3:51:27 > 3:51:30I was eyeing up stereos in Curry's.
3:51:32 > 3:51:34No, genuinely, I was.
3:51:34 > 3:51:36We were going to die of this.
3:51:36 > 3:51:38In that period, we were going to die.
3:51:38 > 3:51:41So £23,500 was an awful lot of money
3:51:41 > 3:51:44for a 22, 21, 23-year-old.
3:51:45 > 3:51:48But the final settlement had a catch.
3:51:48 > 3:51:50We had to sign a waiver
3:51:50 > 3:51:57to say that we wouldn't take any further action in respect of HIV,
3:51:57 > 3:52:02but tagged on to the end of it - in the last hours, it seems -
3:52:02 > 3:52:05was "and hepatitis viruses".
3:52:07 > 3:52:10The victims agreed to sign.
3:52:10 > 3:52:14But scientists had only recently identified the virus
3:52:14 > 3:52:16for hepatitis C
3:52:16 > 3:52:20and the severity of the disease was only now becoming apparent.
3:52:20 > 3:52:22Later that year, when a test became available,
3:52:22 > 3:52:25haemophiliacs with HIV began to discover
3:52:25 > 3:52:28they also had hepatitis C.
3:52:30 > 3:52:31We felt conned.
3:52:32 > 3:52:34Definitely conned.
3:52:34 > 3:52:37Because three months after we signed our legal rights away,
3:52:37 > 3:52:38we had hep C.
3:52:40 > 3:52:43I think it was devious. It was downright underhand.
3:52:43 > 3:52:45It just makes me plain angry, really,
3:52:45 > 3:52:46to think that they were playing with our lives
3:52:46 > 3:52:49and they were still looking for the cheapest way out.
3:52:51 > 3:52:56Hepatitis C can cause permanent liver damage and even cancer.
3:52:56 > 3:52:59The virus was present in British blood and blood products
3:52:59 > 3:53:01as well as American.
3:53:01 > 3:53:05So it wasn't only haemophiliacs who were affected -
3:53:05 > 3:53:08anyone who had a blood transfusion was also at risk.
3:53:13 > 3:53:16Michelle Tolley is 52.
3:53:18 > 3:53:21She was given blood twice after having children.
3:53:22 > 3:53:26I had my first child in 1987.
3:53:26 > 3:53:28I haemorrhaged quite a lot, actually,
3:53:28 > 3:53:33to the point of needing half of my blood...body's blood.
3:53:33 > 3:53:35And then with the twins, when they were born,
3:53:35 > 3:53:36I had to have two pints.
3:53:36 > 3:53:40So if it wasn't '87, it was definitely '91.
3:53:42 > 3:53:45A few years later, the NHS ran a campaign
3:53:45 > 3:53:49to encourage people who had been given transfusions to get tested.
3:53:50 > 3:53:54I went along to my GP at the time then,
3:53:54 > 3:53:57to enquire, to just be told to...
3:53:59 > 3:54:01"Don't be silly, you won't have that."
3:54:01 > 3:54:05Um...which made me feel like a silly little child
3:54:05 > 3:54:08that was just wasting somebody's time.
3:54:09 > 3:54:12If Michelle had been tested in the 1990s,
3:54:12 > 3:54:15she could have been treated sooner.
3:54:15 > 3:54:18She wasn't diagnosed until the end of 2015.
3:54:18 > 3:54:22Within six months, she was too ill to work.
3:54:22 > 3:54:25I get angry days - really, really angry -
3:54:25 > 3:54:31where I feel like...I'm being deprived of my life.
3:54:35 > 3:54:38Michelle was put on a course of treatment to clear her infection,
3:54:38 > 3:54:41but she has had to endure terrible side effects.
3:54:44 > 3:54:49- VOICE BREAKING:- I've really got no energy at all.
3:54:49 > 3:54:52All I'm doing is sleeping.
3:54:52 > 3:54:55Sleeping and sleeping and sleeping.
3:54:55 > 3:55:00I've got a really horrible feeling...
3:55:00 > 3:55:02that I'm not going to survive this.
3:55:06 > 3:55:10I've never felt this emotional before. Ever.
3:55:13 > 3:55:17I've still got seven weeks to go.
3:55:25 > 3:55:27For people with HIV,
3:55:27 > 3:55:31the damage caused by hepatitis C can be even worse.
3:55:32 > 3:55:36Adrian has only recently finished his own course of treatment.
3:55:37 > 3:55:38He's never developed AIDS,
3:55:38 > 3:55:42but he has to keep taking life-saving drugs for his HIV.
3:55:45 > 3:55:49In the '80s, he was well enough to get a job in the music industry.
3:55:52 > 3:55:54First stage pass was this one here,
3:55:54 > 3:55:57which was a UK Bucks Fizz tour.
3:55:57 > 3:56:00Subsequently employed by them for about seven years.
3:56:00 > 3:56:03I became their tour manager for a little while as well,
3:56:03 > 3:56:05which was quite good.
3:56:05 > 3:56:07I did Ant and Dec, that's a standout.
3:56:07 > 3:56:11Up here we have Mr Gary Numan, of all people.
3:56:11 > 3:56:14Some good stuff. I loved every single minute of it.
3:56:15 > 3:56:18Then, after four years of UK gigs,
3:56:18 > 3:56:22Adrian got his big break - the chance to go on a world tour.
3:56:22 > 3:56:26The problem was that I found out I couldn't get insurance.
3:56:26 > 3:56:28Because of HIV, I could not go abroad.
3:56:28 > 3:56:31The minute I said HIV, over.
3:56:31 > 3:56:34I knew then that the game was up.
3:56:34 > 3:56:36I was getting a bit poorly.
3:56:36 > 3:56:39I kind of backed off from it all, really.
3:56:39 > 3:56:43I thought, "Well, I've had my moment,"
3:56:43 > 3:56:45so my career was cut short.
3:56:49 > 3:56:51Dropped a bit of that.
3:56:51 > 3:56:57Adrian still helps out occasionally, but it's not a living any more.
3:56:57 > 3:56:59That's all I wanted to do.
3:56:59 > 3:57:03It's a rock and roll cliche, but it was all about the gig.
3:57:03 > 3:57:04I wanted the gig.
3:57:09 > 3:57:14Joseph Peaty has been left severely disabled by his illnesses,
3:57:14 > 3:57:16and dependant on others for his daily care.
3:57:19 > 3:57:22My immune system had got to a point where it was crippled,
3:57:22 > 3:57:27and any immunity I had left just went over a cliff.
3:57:30 > 3:57:34I was someone who looked like that classical AIDS case.
3:57:34 > 3:57:37I looked like I really hadn't got long for this world at all.
3:57:39 > 3:57:42Intensive treatment saved Joseph's life,
3:57:42 > 3:57:46but he had to give up his job in a school finance department.
3:57:46 > 3:57:50I can try and make the best out of life now, such as it is,
3:57:50 > 3:57:52there's no way that it's ever going to restore to me
3:57:52 > 3:57:54all those hopes and dreams I had as a teenager.
3:57:54 > 3:57:57No way I'm going to have a family.
3:57:57 > 3:58:00But if I want to carry on, then I've got to keep taking this.
3:58:00 > 3:58:06That comes with it a really heavy burden and a reminder, every day,
3:58:06 > 3:58:09of what happened and why I reached this point.
3:58:12 > 3:58:15Joseph and Adrian have survived,
3:58:15 > 3:58:18but of the haemophiliacs who were at Treloar's,
3:58:18 > 3:58:2272 have died after being infected with hepatitis C
3:58:22 > 3:58:25or HIV or both.
3:58:30 > 3:58:33Every year, The Haemophilia Society holds a service
3:58:33 > 3:58:36to remember the victims of contaminated blood.
3:58:47 > 3:58:52More than 1,200 people with bleeding disorders were infected with HIV,
3:58:52 > 3:58:57and around 4,700 were infected with hepatitis C.
3:58:59 > 3:59:02Each candle represents a life lost.
3:59:17 > 3:59:20Contaminated blood was an international disaster
3:59:20 > 3:59:22that cost thousands of lives.
3:59:24 > 3:59:30In the 1990s, investigations began to find out who was to blame.
3:59:33 > 3:59:37In America, the companies that supplied the infected products
3:59:37 > 3:59:40had to pay millions in global out-of-court settlements.
3:59:42 > 3:59:44In France, the former health minister
3:59:44 > 3:59:46was found guilty of manslaughter,
3:59:46 > 3:59:49and the former head of the blood transfusion service
3:59:49 > 3:59:51and his deputy were jailed.
3:59:52 > 3:59:56In Japan, three company executives went to prison,
3:59:56 > 3:59:58and a former top official in the health ministry
3:59:58 > 4:00:02was convicted on a charge of negligence resulting in death.
4:00:04 > 4:00:08In Britain, nothing like that happened...
4:00:09 > 4:00:12..and no-one was held responsible.
4:00:12 > 4:00:14The victims and their families
4:00:14 > 4:00:17were left wanting answers from the government.
4:00:18 > 4:00:22Why did they keep importing American products
4:00:22 > 4:00:26knowing that people were getting infected with HIV?
4:00:26 > 4:00:28They knew the risks when they imported it.
4:00:28 > 4:00:32They've devastated so many families and they're still burying
4:00:32 > 4:00:34their head in the sand and denying any knowledge.
4:00:35 > 4:00:41It took more than 20 years for the first inquiry to be held in the UK.
4:00:41 > 4:00:45It was chaired by Lord Archer and reported in 2009.
4:00:45 > 4:00:50The procrastination in achieving national self-sufficiency
4:00:50 > 4:00:52had disastrous consequences.
4:00:53 > 4:00:55Lord Archer criticised the government
4:00:55 > 4:00:57for being slow to react to the crisis,
4:00:57 > 4:00:59but he didn't find anyone to blame.
4:01:01 > 4:01:04The Archer Inquiry was not a statutory inquiry.
4:01:04 > 4:01:07It couldn't compel witnesses to attend,
4:01:07 > 4:01:10and none of the ministers or civil servants
4:01:10 > 4:01:11who dealt with the crisis did.
4:01:14 > 4:01:17In Scotland, there was an official inquiry,
4:01:17 > 4:01:23chaired by Lord Penrose, which took six years and cost £12 million.
4:01:23 > 4:01:25But his report focused on Scotland,
4:01:25 > 4:01:29and, once again, no-one from Westminster gave evidence.
4:01:31 > 4:01:35Lord Penrose concluded that in Scotland, in relation to AIDS,
4:01:35 > 4:01:39all that could reasonably be done was done,
4:01:39 > 4:01:41and no-one was to blame.
4:01:41 > 4:01:43Many of the victims were furious.
4:01:45 > 4:01:48..service cover-up!
4:01:48 > 4:01:52But it did prompt an apology from the Prime Minister.
4:01:52 > 4:01:55I would like to say sorry on behalf of the government
4:01:55 > 4:01:57for something that should not have happened.
4:01:57 > 4:01:59Pardon?
4:01:59 > 4:02:03Is that...? Six, seven... Is that all you're going to give us?
4:02:03 > 4:02:07You're going to give us nothing. Nothing.
4:02:07 > 4:02:11We were shocked. Shocked, shocked, shocked.
4:02:11 > 4:02:12But after the Penrose report,
4:02:12 > 4:02:14one thing became clear -
4:02:14 > 4:02:18in England, where the government relied on American Factor VIII,
4:02:18 > 4:02:22haemophiliacs were twice as likely to be infected with HIV
4:02:22 > 4:02:26as those in Scotland, which made almost all its own supplies.
4:02:28 > 4:02:32If you look at the difference in England and Scotland
4:02:32 > 4:02:34in terms of the outcomes...
4:02:35 > 4:02:37..you have to conclude that...
4:02:39 > 4:02:42..it was not unavoidable. It was avoidable.
4:02:44 > 4:02:48If you're a haemophilia doctor, it was beyond your control,
4:02:48 > 4:02:51but in terms of the broad thrust of the difference between
4:02:51 > 4:02:54England and Scotland, that's about government.
4:02:57 > 4:02:59That's about government.
4:02:59 > 4:03:02The truth about that has not yet been told.
4:03:04 > 4:03:08Campaigners agree that despite the Archer and Penrose Inquiries,
4:03:08 > 4:03:11ministers have never been properly held to account.
4:03:14 > 4:03:16The former health minister Kenneth Clarke
4:03:16 > 4:03:17would not give us an interview,
4:03:17 > 4:03:19but he told us that blood products
4:03:19 > 4:03:21were never his area of responsibility
4:03:21 > 4:03:25and he would have attended the Penrose Inquiry if he'd been asked.
4:03:30 > 4:03:33Jason is now trying to find out for himself
4:03:33 > 4:03:35how his father came to be infected.
4:03:37 > 4:03:41He expected the answers to be in his father's medical records.
4:03:41 > 4:03:45My dad actually tried to get his medical records
4:03:45 > 4:03:50at a time when there would have been obviously a legal obligation
4:03:50 > 4:03:54on the hospital to have these records, however,
4:03:54 > 4:03:59despite many attempts, he never actually got the medical records.
4:03:59 > 4:04:04The best he got was this 11-page summary.
4:04:04 > 4:04:07When Jason contacted the hospital 25 years later,
4:04:07 > 4:04:11they told him they had no records at all for his father.
4:04:13 > 4:04:16Had I never met the rest of the affected community,
4:04:16 > 4:04:22I probably could have accepted that and thought, "Out of time, too bad."
4:04:22 > 4:04:26Then when I speak to the rest of the community,
4:04:26 > 4:04:29almost every single one has exactly the same story,
4:04:29 > 4:04:33and I don't think you can help but be suspicious.
4:04:35 > 4:04:37But Panorama has discovered
4:04:37 > 4:04:40the hospital does still have records for Jonathan Evans.
4:04:41 > 4:04:44Three volumes of them.
4:04:44 > 4:04:47Jason has now requested copies once more.
4:04:50 > 4:04:54It's not only medical records that have proved hard to find.
4:04:54 > 4:04:57It came as quite a surprise to me,
4:04:57 > 4:05:00following my departure from the Haemophilia Society,
4:05:00 > 4:05:05to learn that the files connected with the HIV crisis,
4:05:05 > 4:05:08correspondence with members,
4:05:08 > 4:05:14correspondence with the Department of Health, had all been destroyed.
4:05:14 > 4:05:17You're bound to ask the question - why?
4:05:19 > 4:05:21The trail of disappearing documents leads
4:05:21 > 4:05:24right to the heart of government.
4:05:24 > 4:05:27When David Owen asked for his ministerial papers
4:05:27 > 4:05:31from the Department of Health, he was told that they'd been destroyed.
4:05:35 > 4:05:37There are many of us who think that one of the reasons why you
4:05:37 > 4:05:39can't get out a lot of these documents
4:05:39 > 4:05:40was they cleaned them up
4:05:40 > 4:05:43because there was a panic going around the world
4:05:43 > 4:05:45in the middle '80s
4:05:45 > 4:05:48that these issues would reach court.
4:05:52 > 4:05:55The Department of Health told us Lord Archer had found
4:05:55 > 4:05:58that no documents had been destroyed maliciously,
4:05:58 > 4:06:02and there was no evidence of missing or amended medical records.
4:06:06 > 4:06:09No evidence has been found of government negligence either.
4:06:11 > 4:06:15But if it were, the victims could claim compensation,
4:06:15 > 4:06:20which, they say, should be much more than the financial support they currently receive.
4:06:21 > 4:06:24Not enough. We don't have enough.
4:06:24 > 4:06:27If they called it compensation and gave us a proper package,
4:06:27 > 4:06:30you would buy your house, you will become part of society,
4:06:30 > 4:06:34you would not be on the sidelines of society.
4:06:34 > 4:06:36That's how the money makes me feel,
4:06:36 > 4:06:38that we are on the sidelines of society.
4:06:40 > 4:06:48The wounds that exist now don't just come from the initial infections,
4:06:48 > 4:06:51they come from the way it's been handled over three decades,
4:06:51 > 4:06:54maybe longer.
4:06:54 > 4:06:57If they want to heal these wounds properly,
4:06:57 > 4:07:02then they've got to stop dealing with us on the cheap.
4:07:05 > 4:07:08The Department of Health told us they are paying out
4:07:08 > 4:07:12significantly more to victims now than any previous government.
4:07:17 > 4:07:20Michelle has had six months of treatment,
4:07:20 > 4:07:22and it seems to be working.
4:07:22 > 4:07:26But even now it's not known how many others may have been infected
4:07:26 > 4:07:29with hepatitis C, but not diagnosed.
4:07:31 > 4:07:35So many people out there that are infected and they don't even know.
4:07:35 > 4:07:40And as the years are going on, so many people have died,
4:07:40 > 4:07:43and are still dying, and...
4:07:45 > 4:07:48..I think that's probably what I'll die off in the end.
4:07:50 > 4:07:53For three decades, appeals to the government
4:07:53 > 4:07:57for a UK-wide public inquiry have fallen on deaf ears,
4:07:57 > 4:08:01but in recent weeks the Haemophilia Society has intensified the debate.
4:08:02 > 4:08:07They say they now have evidence the society was misled about Factor VIII.
4:08:09 > 4:08:12The government, the pharmaceutical industry,
4:08:12 > 4:08:14and UK doctors had information
4:08:14 > 4:08:16that was not shared with
4:08:16 > 4:08:19the Haemophilia Society and the community,
4:08:19 > 4:08:21and that led to tragic consequences.
4:08:21 > 4:08:26It's essential that we have an inquiry that can compel witnesses,
4:08:26 > 4:08:30that can look and see if there was negligence,
4:08:30 > 4:08:31can give the whole picture,
4:08:31 > 4:08:34and can lead to compensation for the thousands of families
4:08:34 > 4:08:37affected by this. We have to have the truth.
4:08:39 > 4:08:42But public inquiries are lengthy and expensive,
4:08:42 > 4:08:44and many people are not in favour.
4:08:46 > 4:08:50Personally, I don't think there is any reason to undertake another
4:08:50 > 4:08:54public inquiry in this area, I think it would lead to more distress
4:08:54 > 4:08:58than it would lead to enlightenment.
4:08:58 > 4:09:02It would create really no benefit in my view to anybody -
4:09:02 > 4:09:06least of all, I'm afraid, to the people who were affected
4:09:06 > 4:09:10at the time and who have my undying sympathy.
4:09:11 > 4:09:14The Department of Health agrees.
4:09:14 > 4:09:17It says all relevant documents have been released.
4:09:18 > 4:09:22And, like her predecessors, Labour and Conservative,
4:09:22 > 4:09:25the Prime Minister has ruled out a public inquiry.
4:09:28 > 4:09:33# Walk on. Walk on... #
4:09:34 > 4:09:39But the outcome of another tragedy might provide a way forward.
4:09:39 > 4:09:42For the families of the 96 Liverpool fans who died at Hillsborough,
4:09:42 > 4:09:46justice was achieved after an independent panel of inquiry
4:09:46 > 4:09:48investigated the disaster.
4:09:48 > 4:09:50Andy Burnham helped set it up.
4:09:52 > 4:09:55Because it wasn't an adversarial courtroom process,
4:09:55 > 4:09:59I think in the end it allows the truth to find its way out.
4:10:00 > 4:10:03And I feel the same is needed here,
4:10:03 > 4:10:06so that people can understand what has happened.
4:10:07 > 4:10:11And in his final speech in the Commons, Andy Burnham made his case.
4:10:13 > 4:10:18From what I know, I believe that this scandal
4:10:18 > 4:10:23amounts to a criminal cover-up on an industrial scale.
4:10:24 > 4:10:29Following today's debate, I will ask the Secretary of State
4:10:29 > 4:10:32to set up a Hillsborough-style inquiry
4:10:32 > 4:10:35straight after the general election.
4:10:35 > 4:10:38And if the government don't do that,
4:10:38 > 4:10:42I will refer the evidence that I have uncovered to the police
4:10:42 > 4:10:46and request that a widespread criminal investigation commences.
4:10:48 > 4:10:52Jason Evans now feels he has enough evidence to go to court.
4:10:52 > 4:10:58I have now decided to instruct a legal firm to take a case
4:10:58 > 4:11:01alleging negligence and breach of statutory duty
4:11:01 > 4:11:04against the government and various bodies
4:11:04 > 4:11:09for their role in this scandal, that ultimately led to
4:11:09 > 4:11:14infecting my father with HIV through a product they knew to be dangerous.
4:11:15 > 4:11:19I want the truth to go down on record about what happened here.
4:11:19 > 4:11:22I think that truth is what everyone needs.
4:11:25 > 4:11:29If Jason is successful it could open the way for many others
4:11:29 > 4:11:32to get the answers they're still looking for.
4:11:33 > 4:11:38It's 27 years since Colin died and we are still fighting.
4:11:40 > 4:11:43There's thousands of people that have been,
4:11:43 > 4:11:48their lives have been wrecked through imported blood, and
4:11:48 > 4:11:53it should never, ever have happened, and I get angry about that.
4:11:54 > 4:11:57I just think it's outrageous.
4:11:57 > 4:12:00It's astonishing that something of that magnitude
4:12:00 > 4:12:04still hasn't warranted an inquiry which the Department of Health
4:12:04 > 4:12:08have to take part and answer for their actions.
4:12:09 > 4:12:13The picture is still not complete, and what is needed is disclosure,
4:12:13 > 4:12:17if they're ever going to bring about any form of healing at all
4:12:17 > 4:12:19before everybody's dead and buried.