Available safe product `not used'

A young haemophiliac told the tribunal yesterday he had lost all faith in and respect for the medical profession, after he was given an unsafe blood product which infected him with hepatitis C, when a product which was known to be safe was available.

Luke (25), a mild haemophilia B or "Christmas disease"" sufferer, received the infected BTSB-made factor 9 concentrate in 1990. What made his infection "totally crazy", he said, was that earlier in the year, he had received a safer product made under new-to-the-market solvent detergent conditions.

"They should have known," he said. "They were the experts. Why didn't they throw that stuff out when they had the definite stuff? Because it was worth a couple of quid? Is it money and accountants? Is that who was running the BTSB?"

Luke was diagnosed with hepatitis C in April 1991. Since then, he said, the future seemed "very close". While others of his age were preparing for careers, "my preparing for the future is that I would not aggravate my condition, which is so easy to do."

He could not see himself in a relationship with anyone unless they had HIV or hepatitis C, "because it would just be a waste of time for that person".

Earlier, a haemophilia A sufferer who was also infected with hepatitis C spoke about how it had turned him into a moody and angry man.

"I don't have a quality of life," said Fred (44). "I can't do what I used to do. I sleep for most of the day. I am cranky out. I don't know how the wife is still living with me. It has just changed my whole life."

If it was not for the virus, he said, he would be earning £25,000 to £30,000 a year. Instead, he was trying to raise a family with two children on £134 social welfare a week.

He was reluctant to go for treatment for his condition as the side-effects such as hair loss would indicate something was wrong with him and "I don't want people to know that".

Two of Fred's haemophiliac brothers were also infected through blood products. His older brother tested positive for HIV but was not informed of this for seven years. He had wished to testify to the tribunal but died last year, said Fred.

A second brother was infected with hepatitis C and is badly afflicted by swollen joints. Looking at the way he was suffering, said Fred: "I wouldn't like to make 50."

"There has been a mass murder committed," he added. "Someone must be held accountable for this. They are still there. They are walking around hospitals as if nothing ever happened."