iStock/Thinkstock(LONDON) – The U.K. has launched a probe into a contaminated-blood scandal that left at least 2,400 people dead, according to the BBC.
The goal is to determine the cause of the “appalling injustice” that took place in the 1970s and 1980s, according to a spokesperson for U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May.
A recent parliamentary report found that approximately 7,500 National Health Service patients were given imported blood products that were infected with hepatitis C and HIV, the BBC reported.
“This was an appalling tragedy, and it should never have happened,” May told the BBC.
Many of the patients were receiving donated blood to cope with a genetic bleeding disorder called hemophilia. The disorder slows down the blood-clotting process, often leading to prolonged bleeding after an injury, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
The U.K. imported blood to treat patients with a clotting agent called factor VIII. However, some of the supplies were infected, including donations from prison inmates in the U.S., according to the BBC.
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