logo
Infected blood compensation process created 'tier of victimhood'

Infected blood compensation process created 'tier of victimhood'

Yahoo07-05-2025

A man, from Northern Ireland, who contracted hepatitis C has told the Infected Blood Inquiry the compensation process created a tier of victimhood which is "immoral, corrupt and unacceptable".
Nigel Hamilton, who is also chairman of Haemophilia NI, received contaminated blood products during an operation in the 1970s.
He gave evidence to the inquiry amid concerns around the government's compensation process for victims.
His twin brother Simon, who died on Christmas Day in 2023, also contracted Hepatitis C after being given contaminated transfusions.
More than 30,000 people in the UK were infected with HIV and hepatitis C after they were given contaminated blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s.
In August 2022, the government announced that 4,000 UK victims would receive interim payments of £100,000, including about 100 in Northern Ireland.
But campaigners and victims have since contacted the inquiry with concerns about the way compensation is being implemented, and how long the process is taking.
Mr Hamilton has received his compensation but wants to remain involved in the process to ensure that everyone gets justice.
'A process of delay'
Nigel Hamilton with his late brother Simon, who were both infected after receiving contaminated blood products [BBC]
Giving evidence, Mr Hamilton thanked the inquiry and its chair for the "opportunity to repeat that we need justice".
He was questioned by chief counsel to the Inquiry, Jenni Richards KC about the delay of compensation and its impact upon those in Northern Ireland.
Mr Hamilton said it was "not only in Northern Ireland" but that it impacted people "right across the board".
In addressing the inquiry's recommendations, he said "the outcome that has taken place is not how it was meant to be".
"The issue should be dealt with and should have been dealt with efficiency and in collaboration with victims.
"That's how it should have been.
"There's been a process of delay brought about by exclusion," he said.
'Really anxious'
He explained the "big anxiety that people feel" is the lack of direct consultation and that "victims don't know when they're going to be involved in this process".
"Their anxiety rises. Their fear and feeling of resentment and rejection rises," he said.
Mr Hamilton described the emotional, psychological, and financial impact of the process as "cruel, and the torture continues" and it needed properly addressed and resolved.
"My own personal feeling, while I have received compensation, is that it is critical that we widen the aperture of the funnel and get as many people in as possible to ensure that justice is done and that answers are given," he said.
Mr Hamilton concluded his evidence by telling the Inquiry that in his opinion, he said: "The simple issue here is the money was supposed to be provided. Put the money where the mouth is and get it done."
'Far too long'
Campaigners gathered in London in July 2023 [PA Media]
Earlier, Mr Hamilton told BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme that the need to deliver compensation payments is "paramount".
"We've already lost a number of people. I've lost a twin brother, two cousins, several friends, one more recently, in the last few months and this is an injustice to them."
"It does not provide for them the opportunity to see closure and they have lost out in this process which has just simply taken far too long," he added.
'It's not over for me'
"People need the justice that they are entitled to. We have faced a long time in getting justice," he said.
The "reluctance" for the process to "move forward at pace" is "frustrating", he said.
"Justice is justice. It must be delivered – and it must be delivered now."
Mr Hamilton's compensation process took about five weeks and he said it was not straightforward, so he wants to ensure it progresses for others.
"My objective for staying in this process, rather than taking my money and running, is that I want to see justice for all other victims."
"I'm now in a situation where I am through this process – but it's not over for me – I want justice for everyone," Mr Hamilton said.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Pride of Cumbria Against all Odds award finalists share inspiring stories of courage
Pride of Cumbria Against all Odds award finalists share inspiring stories of courage

Yahoo

time5 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Pride of Cumbria Against all Odds award finalists share inspiring stories of courage

The new Against All Odds category in Newsquest's Pride of Cumbria Awards 2025 honours individuals or groups who have overcome personal challenges with resilience, determination, and courage. Their journey through illness, loss, or adversity inspires others, showcasing the strength of hope and perseverance. The event will be held on Wednesday, June 18 at the Greenhill Hotel, Wigton, and will be hosted for the first time by StagedRight managing director David Stewart Kerry Stewart (Image: Supplied) Kerry was diagnosed with breast cancer in Feb 2021, aged 30. She is a mother of Mabel and a wife to Jonathon. Fit, healthy, full of life and one day found a lump in her breast. She was diagnosed and put onto a treatment plan instantly. She braved the shave in July 2021 and started raising money, alongside Stronger Together cancer support group, to raise funds for The Henderson and Loweswater Suite at West Cumberland Hospital. Laura Earl - The Hiking Household Laura Earl (Image: Supplied) Laura was diagnosed with a brain tumour in September 2023, she was fit and active - owning walking business The Hiking Household. She has four young kids and has dedicated her life to me, the children and her business. Her nominator said: "She deserves this award as her whole life was dedicated to walking and being outside and this last year has been incredibly difficult for her. "She has overcome all the odds and used her experience for good, making routes more accessible for others now she's disabled herself." Sarah Foster Sarah Foster (Image: Supplied) Sarah was first diagnosed with cancer around the age of 12. She has had multiple remissions but the cancer always returned. She has the most valiant spirit and determination to fight and she's fought hard. She has raised a staggering amount for charity including CLIC Sargent and cancer research. Her nominator said: "For outstanding bravery and contribution to charity whilst being disabled and having terminal cancer herself." Julieanne Mitchell Julieanne Mitchell (Image: Supplied) Julieanne is HIV positive and is 47 and lives in Whitehaven, she works for Blue Sky Trust one day a week and also does additional volunteering for this service. Her nominator said: "Julieanne herself was diagnosed with HIV over 20+ years ago, at a time when she was a young women, since then, she has worked so hard to build herself back up after such a diagnoses, but then she has also gone on and support others living with HIV across Cumbria"

Used in COVID shots, mRNA may help rid the body of HIV
Used in COVID shots, mRNA may help rid the body of HIV

Chicago Tribune

time10 hours ago

  • Chicago Tribune

Used in COVID shots, mRNA may help rid the body of HIV

The technology that powered COVID vaccines may also lead scientists to a cure for HIV. Using mRNA, Australian researchers said they were able to trick the virus to come out of hiding, a crucial step in ridding the body of it entirely. The research, published last week in Nature Communications, is still preliminary and so far has been shown to be successful only in a lab. But it suggests that mRNA has potential far beyond its use in vaccines as a means to deliver therapies against stubborn adversaries. Short for messenger RNA, mRNA is a set of instructions for a gene. In the case of COVID vaccines, the instructions were for a piece of the coronavirus. In the new study, they are for molecules key to targeting HIV. Dr. Sharon Lewin, director of the Doherty Institute at the University of Melbourne, who led the study, called mRNA a 'miraculous' tool 'to deliver things that you want into places that were not possible before.' Vaccines deploying mRNA instruct the body to produce a fragment of the virus, which then sets off the body's immune response. In the United States, the shots were initially hailed for turning back the pandemic, then viewed by some with suspicion and fear. Some officials, including Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., have falsely said that they are highly dangerous and even deadly. Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services sought to limit the vaccine's availability to pregnant women, children and healthy younger adults. The administration also canceled a nearly $600 million contract with the drugmaker Moderna to develop an mRNA shot for humans against bird flu. 'The fear right now is not rational,' Lewin said, adding that 'mRNA vaccines have been given to millions of people around the world, so we have a very good understanding of their risks.' The new study describes the use of mRNA as a tool to flush HIV out of its hiding places. Other uses could involve providing proteins missing from those with certain diseases or correcting genetic errors. Frauke Muecksch, a virologist at Heidelberg University in Germany who was not involved in the work, called mRNA a 'promising, absolutely powerful technology.' Although most people may have only heard of mRNA's use in science during the pandemic, scientists have been working with it for more than 20 years, she said. 'I think it's not just therapeutically very powerful, but also for basic science, for research, it opens up a lot of avenues,' she added. Potent antiretroviral drugs can now control HIV, suppressing it to undetectable levels. Still, minute amounts of the virus lie dormant in so-called reservoirs, waiting for an opportunity to resurge. A cure for HIV would involve ferreting out all of this virus and destroying it, a strategy that has been called 'shock and kill.' A significant hurdle is that the virus lies dormant in a particular type of immune cell, called a resting CD4 cell. Because these cells are inactive, they tend to be unresponsive to drugs. The few drugs scientists have previously used to rouse the virus in these cells were not specific to HIV and had unwanted side effects. 'It's fair to say the field's been a little bit stuck,' said Brad Jones, a viral immunologist at Weill Cornell Medicine who was not involved in the latest research. In 2022, Jones and his colleagues found that the immune boost from the mRNA vaccines awakened latent HIV in people living with the virus. (Other research has shown that mRNA vaccines also activated dormant viruses including Epstein Barr.) 'You get just a little bit of a gentle nudge with some of these vaccines, and it's enough to coax some of these latent viruses out so they can be killed,' Jones said. Lewin and her colleagues had for years experimented with other ways to activate HIV but had no luck in resting cells. Seeing the success of the COVID vaccines, which used lipid nanoparticles — tiny spheres of fat — containing mRNA, her team tested similar particles. They used the particles to deliver two different sets of molecules: Tat, which is adept at switching HIV on, and CRISPR, a tool that can 'edit' genes. The researchers showed that in resting immune cells from people living with HIV, the approach coaxed the virus out of dormancy. 'It's very, very hard to deal with these cells, so I think this really targeting the right population of cells is what makes this paper special,' Muecksch said. It's unclear whether the new approach can successfully awaken all of the dormant HIV in the body, and what side effects it might produce. Lewin said that 'mRNA will almost certainly have some adverse effects, as every drug does, but we will investigate that systematically, as we do for any new drug.' In this case, she said, side effects may be more acceptable to people living with HIV than having to take medications for the rest of their lives. The researchers plan to test the method in HIV-infected animals next, before moving into clinical trials. This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

County official tapped to be WA's next health secretary
County official tapped to be WA's next health secretary

Yahoo

time10 hours ago

  • Yahoo

County official tapped to be WA's next health secretary

The Washington state Department of Health in Tumwater on Monday, June 9, 2025. (Photo by Bill Lucia/Washington State Standard) Washington has a new health secretary starting next month. Dennis Worsham will take over the Department of Health after serving as head of the Snohomish County Health Department since January 2023. Gov. Bob Ferguson announced Monday that he'd appointed Worsham to the job. He starts July 7. Worsham was the county health department's first director after its shift from a separate health district to being integrated with county government. He started his career there in the 1990s. At that time, Worsham, who is openly gay, was tasked with managing the response to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV. Before becoming director, he worked for other agencies. He served as a regional health officer for King County, deputy state secretary of health in the mid-2010s, and interim director of the Seattle and King County public health department. Worsham has a bachelor's degree in health services administration from Eastern Washington University. 'His decades of experience and broad skillset will help chart a new vision for public health in Washington state,' Ferguson said in a statement. Worsham, who grew up in Othello, in Adams County, said 'it is critical that we continue to build a system that earns the trust of communities and strives for every person to have equitable access to the care and resources they need to thrive.' 'Public health is not just about addressing illness and injury — it's about preventing them,' he continued. 'It's about preparing for the unexpected, addressing root causes of health inequities, and investing in systems that protect people before a crisis begins.' The health department oversees everything from drinking water safety and the state's response to the opioid crisis to communicable disease outbreaks. It took on a higher profile as the state navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. Worsham is taking over for Jessica Todorovich, a previous chief of staff at the agency, who has served as its acting director since January. The last permanent health secretary was Dr. Umair Shah, who took over in late 2020 during the pandemic and stepped down in January to 'spend time with family while exploring what is next on my horizon.' Shah has since founded Rickshaw Enterprises, a consulting firm focused on improving health outcomes. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store