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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Jon Ungoed-Thomas and Robin McKie

Revealed: UK government was warned of infected blood risks in 1970s

Demonstrators hold placards related to the NHS infected blood scandal and Bayer-owned Cutter Laboratories warned the presence of virus in its commercial blood product Koate 'should be assumed'.
Demonstrators hold placards related to the NHS infected blood scandal and Bayer-owned Cutter Laboratories warned the presence of virus in its commercial blood product Koate 'should be assumed'. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

A commercial blood product at the centre of the biggest treatment scandal in the history of the NHS was approved for use after government officials were told convicts were among the paid donors and virus contamination “should be assumed”, corporate filings reveal.

The product, given to ­haemophiliacs to enable their blood to clot, was injected into thousands of patients in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s, ­including young children, who were infected with HIV and hepatitis C.

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