The infected blood scandal: lessons for clinical research

The six year long Infected Blood Inquiry investigated the causes and impacts of NHS treatment with infected blood products in the 1970s and 80s.1 Thousands of adults and children were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C. The impacts of the biggest treatment disaster in the NHS are wide ranging. Here we focus on research.Patients were subject to research that is reminiscent of some of the worst cases of misconduct from the past. With echoes of the infamous Tuskegee trial,2 adult and child patients and their parents were not given information on risks or alternatives and often were not even told they were part of a research programme. When results indicated they had been infected, some were not informed. They were not aware of a need to ask about their status, because they did not know they had been tested.Volume II of the report is dedicated to what happened at Treloar’s…
Read Original Article: The infected blood scandal: lessons for clinical research »