Blood scandal victim Roger Newman wants full government apology

Roger Newman wants a detailed government apology

A man who was infected with HIV and hepatitis when he was a teenager is calling for the government to make a full, detailed apology.

Roger Newman, 54, of Whitstable, Kent, was among the 3,500 people infected by contaminated blood in the 70s and 80s.

The Infected Blood Inquiry is hearing closing submissions this week.

On Wednesday, Eleanor Grey KC, for the Department of Health, told the inquiry apologies had been given. The government has not commented further.

Mr Newman said he and his brother had haemophilia, a condition in which the blood does not properly clot.

He said: "The other children in my class were told not to touch - don't, whatever you do, don't knock into him because he'll bleed."

As children, they both received regular transfusions, which included blood from some contaminated batches from the US.

He said: "Very soon after, I would be having reactions, feeling hot, sweaty, itchy, rashes and mum would sometimes have to drive us up to hospital."

He said supplies would be switched in case he had had a "dodgy batch", but the transfusions continued.

Roger Newman said he was given infected blood as a child

Mr Newman said he was 15 when his haemophilia specialist called his mother and said both boys had been contaminated with HIV.

"I just remember seeing it on the news," he said. "I just said to mum is that me - is that what they're talking about?

Mr Newman said: "I want the truth to be told. I want people to own up. I want there to be complete and honest apologies for what they did wrong.

"The Department of Health have been extremely negligent. They were warned that these products were extremely dangerous and it was really, really unsafe practice to buy bloods from abroad."

He said he lived with the fear of contaminating his wife or children, adding: "Every time, if one of my children is ill or my wife comes down with something, my first reaction is 'oh, my God, what if it it's something about me'."

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