Plymouth Herald
A Plymouth man who is terminally ill as a result of receiving infected blood from the NHS said he is disgusted after the Government blocked a Bill offering compensation.
Ron Venton, pictured, 69, said: "I think it's absolutely disgusting. This was brought about by the government importing infected blood and they are trying to wash their hands of it."
The Devonport pensioner is among 4,670 haemophiliacs given hepatitis C through contaminated blood in the 1970s and 1980s. Of that number, 1,243 people were also infected with HIV. The Contaminated Blood (Support for Infected and Bereaved Persons) Bill passed swiftly through its Lords stages of Parliament recently, but the measure has repeatedly been blocked by Government whips from getting a second reading in the Commons.
On Friday, the last opportunity for backbench Bills before the general election, another shout of "object" prevented it from making further progress.
The Bill, which has the backing of the Haemophilia Society, would establish a compensation package for people who have been infected by contaminated blood, their widows, dependants and carers. It would also set up a committee to advise on the treatment of haemophilia and a review into the support available for infected people and their families, in line with the recommendations of a two-year inquiry into the contaminated blood disaster.
Mr Venton, who has terminal liver cancer which doctors say is likely to be a direct result of the hepatitis he contracted through infected blood, said the longer the bill is delayed, the fewer affected people will remain alive to receive the compensation. But he said he was not surprised by the delays.
He said: "So many haemophiliacs have lost their battle anyway. I know we will all be disappointed, but it's not unexpected. We seem to be bottom of the list. Even if there's a change of government I don't think it's going to be easy to get anything out of whoever's in power."
He added: "For the Bill to be blocked like that is an absolute disgrace."
Of the more than 1,200 haemophilia patients infected with HIV, less than a third are still alive and a the number of deaths among the hepatitis C infected patients is still increasing. More than 2,000 have died as a result of the blunder.
Former disabled people's minister Lord Morris of Manchester, who steered the Bill through the Lords, likened the suffering of haemophiliacs infected by contaminated blood or blood products to the "Black Death".
