âWe were kidsâ: infected blood report welcomed by survivor of school trials | Contaminated blood scandalA survivor of a school at the centre of the contaminated blood scandal where pupils were viewed as âcheaper than chimpsâ says he feels vindication by todayâs report after decades of campaigning. As a child Richard Warwick, 58, was infected with HIV and hepatitis C during experimental trials when he was pupil at Treloarâs college â a specialist school in Hampshire for haemophiliacs. âWe were expendable,â Warwick told the Guardian. âWe know that 80 pupils have died out of the 122 who went through the school between 1970 and 1987.â He added: âWe were given injections of different types of factor VIII [the infected blood product] â it was all prepared in syringes for us. They were chopping and changing different manufacturer in batches in what today would be called infectivity trials. We were eight- or nine-year-old kids.â âI hate the term guinea pig, but thatâs what we were. We were âcheaper than chimpsâ as was stated in a letter at the time.â The final report into the scandal confirmed that children at the school had been used as âobjects of researchâ while the risks of contracting hepatitis and HIV were ignored. The inquiry, chaired by Sir Brian Langstaff, found Treloarâs pupils were treated with multiple commercial concentrates that were known to carry higher risks of infection and that staff favoured the âadvancement of researchâ above the best interests of the children. The report highlighted that parents and children at Treloarâs were given little information about their care and the related risks, and that parental consent was not sought regarding the use of different treatments. It also recounted the callous way some pupils were informed that they had been infected with HIV. âThe staff went around the room saying âyes, no, yes, noâ to indicate whether they were HIV positive,â the inquiry heard. Langstaff said the way pupils were informed without any support was âinsensitive and wrongâ. He wrote: âThe evidence before the inquiry suggests, overwhelmingly, that there was no general system or process for telling parents of the risks of viral infection. âParents were not given details, nor even core information, about their children at Treloarâs for haemophilia. âThey were not told, for instance, that despite their home clinicianâs recommendations as to the treatment product, the pupils were being given a range of different concentrates.â The report found that from 1977, medical research was carried out at Treloarâs âto an extent which appears unparalleled elsewhereâ. Langstaff said: âThe pupils were often regarded as objects for research, rather than first and foremost as children whose treatment should be firmly focused on their individual best interests alone. This was unethical and wrong.â His report found there is âno doubtâ that the healthcare professionals at Treloarâs were aware of the risks of virus transmission through blood and blood products. He wrote: âNot only was it a prerequisite for research, a fundamental aspect of Treloarâs, but knowledge of the risks is displayed in what the clinicians there wrote at the time.â Despite knowledge of the dangers, clinicians proceeded with higher-risk treatments in attempts to further their research, the report concluded. Warwick said: âWhat appals me the most was that our parents put their full trust in the school to act in loco parentis and they betrayed that trust. It was disgraceful and shocking. âThe report is rightly super critical of the school â they actively recruited boys from as young as eight. They sent out glossy brochures, advertising the virtues of the college. But what they were actually doing, it now turns out, was conducting clinical trials and research.â Warwick welcomed the report as the âculmination of 30 years of campaigningâ. He said: âWe are as close as we will ever get to justice. I donât think anyone thought they would see this day.â He added: âI want people to be held to account. I want those responsible flagged up and named and shamed. All governments are responsible who have let this slip through their fingers. âCompensation wonât bring back anyoneâs health and it wonât bring back children that were lost. But the government has to financially address this and recognise the years and years of salaries, pensions, mortgages that were lost. There was so much we missed out on while the government dragged its feet.â Des Collins, a solicitor who represents more than 1,500 victims, said the school could now face criminal prosecution. He said: âIn time, we may learn whether Sir Brian is minded to refer Treloar school to the CPS, among other potential institutions. However, it is entirely possible that the Crown Prosecution Service may consider it now has sufficient grounds to begin its own investigation. âThere is certainly appetite for this level of accountability within the infected blood community.â Source link Posted: 2024-05-20 16:43:04 |
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