The blood scandal in the UK healthcare system, which is considered the largest and deadliest in history, resulted in the death of thousands of people and affected hundreds of thousands more. According to a report prepared after investigations and interviews with over 5,000 patients, at least 8,000 children and 250 adults were given HIV-infected blood products, leading to the deaths of approximately one in every four of them. In addition, at least 5,000 recipients of blood products developed chronic hepatitis C, while another 26,800 people became infected with the virus during blood transfusions due to accidents or birth and surgery in hospitals. Former Judge Brian Langstaff, who prepared the final report of the public inquiry, accused UK governments and health service officials of covering up the scandal to protect their own images and interests. He found that some documents had been destroyed by government officials to hide the scandal. The blood scandal in the UK healthcare system began in the 1970s with the introduction of a new treatment method in the United States. High-risk donors, such as prisoners and drug addicts, were used to obtain blood products, which led to the introduction of infected blood samples into the system. The process of producing blood products, in which the plasma of thousands of donors was mixed together, created a situation where even a single HIV-positive donor could contaminate a significant volume of blood products. The UK government plans to compensate those who contracted HIV and hepatitis viruses through "contaminated blood" with up to £2.6 million pounds, depending on the severity of their cases.
