Children used as ‘lab rats’ in clinical trials which gave them hep C and HIV | UK News [Video]

Doctors across the UK gave children blood treatments widely known to be contaminated as part of clinical research in the 1970s and 80s, according to a report.

Survivors said they were treated like ‘guinea pigs’ or ‘lab rats’ in trials which left hundreds infected with hepatitis C and HIV.

The findings are the latest development in the infected blood scandal, widely described as the ‘worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS’.

The victims were mainly people with haemophilia, a disorder in which blood does not clot properly so cuts and scrapes become much more dangerous.

Poor screening practices and poor understanding of hepatitis and HIV meant tens of thousands of people around the world were infected with the diseases after having transfusions of blood products to help clotting.

The problem was worsened in the UK after a shortage of these products meant they were imported from the US.

On in particular, known as Factor …