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Doctor knows best

Some patients with haemophilia were kept in the dark for years about the risks from US-made Factor VIII blood clotting products. We ask doctors how this could have happened.

Later this year, the Infected Blood Inquiry will publish its final report. In the third episode of her series, the writer and broadcaster Blanche Girouard looks at the role of doctors in what has become known as the worst scandal in the history of the NHS.

β€œIt was a different era,” one doctor who worked in a large busy haemophilia centre in London in the 1970s and 80s, tells Blanche. β€œThe culture was very different, we doctors were in a sense kings,” another former senior haemophilia specialist says.

Blanche also hears from one couple who were told by doctors to give up any plans to have children after the husband, a haemophilia sufferer, was infected with HIV-contaminated Factor VIII.

Producer: Mike Lanchin
Researcher: Ewan Newbigging-Lister
Editor: Kristine Pommert
A CTVC production for ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4

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14 minutes

Last on

Wed 21 Feb 2024 13:45

Broadcast

  • Wed 21 Feb 2024 13:45