Angry campaigners have branded a long-awaited report on an inquiry into contaminated NHS blood products in the 1970s and 1980s a “whitewash”.
Inverness man Andy Gunn claimed the Penrose Inquiry was a “waste of money” and it was regrettable that the only recommended course of action was to ensure people who had a blood transfusion before 1991 are tested for Hepatitis C.
The 40-year-old who was affected by the scandal said those responsible for ruining so many lives should be prosecuted and victims and their families should be given substantial compensation.
The inquiry, headed up by Lord Penrose who is currently seriously ill in hospital, said more should have been done to screen blood and donors for hepatitis C in the early 1990s.
It concluded that the collection of blood from prisoners should have stopped earlier but nothing could have been done to prevent the transmission of HIV.
A total of 478 people acquired the hepatitis C virus from blood product therapy and 2,500 from blood transfusion in Scotland between 1970 and 1991.
The report said 60 patients acquired HIV from therapy with blood products, and 18 from blood transfusion.
Lord Penrose said the impact on affected people had been “devastating” and the often-forgotten suffering of clinical staff must be acknowledged.
But the report sparked an angry response from people who attended a press conference in Edinburgh and shouts of “whitewash”, “cover-up” and “they do not give a damn” could be heard.
Mr Gunn said: “I think the report was a waste of money and a whitewash.
“In France, Canada and Japan, health ministers were put in jail for their part and these were places where there was less negligence.
“I would like to see criminal prosecutions of the people responsible but it looks like they are going to try and get away scotfree.”
Campainger Bruce Norval from the Black Isle said: “I think the report is a farcical, inaccurate representation of what is the largest and still unanswered scandal in Scottish medical history,” he added.
“It is a £12million doorstop worth of nonsense and it will remain so unless First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has the guts to realise that and turn this into something meaningful that changes the lives of victims.”
Bill Wright of support group Haemophilia Scotland said the report had left him “raging” but insisted it was not the end of the story.
He claimed the “moral case for decent and realistic financial support or compensation” was unanswerable and a fund must be established in Scotland to reflect local circumstances.