It is estimated that at least 1,820 people in the UK died as a result of the infected blood scandal. A further 26,800 people were made severely ill after receiving blood transfusions contaminated with hepatitis C or HIV. Considered to be the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS, the scandal can be traced back to the 1970s. However it is only in the last three years that there has been a full scale public inquiry. How was it that negligence ran so rife as to affect so many people, and why were the facts so routinely ignored and covered up? Joining Matthew to discuss this is investigative journalist, Cara McGoogan, author of ‘The Poison Line: The shocking true story of how a miracle cure became a deadly poison’. In this episode they trace the history of the infected blood scandal, how leaders failed to take stock of evidence presented to them, and the devastating impact this lack of action had on patients. 

https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/296504/cara-mcgoogan

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