Factor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Factor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal
Directed byKelly Duda
Produced byKelly Duda
StarringEdwin Barron Jr.
John Byus
Kelly Duda
Hezile Earl
Francis ′Bud′ Henderson
Rolf Kaestel
Mark Kennedy
James Kreppner
Jim Lovel
Randal Morgan
John Schock
Narrated byKelly Duda
CinematographyKelly Duda, Clinton Steeds, Jon Ruffiner
Edited byKelly Duda
Music byNick Devlin
The Salty Dogs
Distributed byConcrete Films USA
Release date
2005
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States of America
LanguageEnglish

Factor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal is a feature-length documentary by Arkansas filmmaker and investigative journalist Kelly Duda. Through interviews and presentation of documents and footage, Duda alleges that in the 1970s and 1980s, the Arkansas prison system profited from selling blood plasma from inmates infected with viral hepatitis and HIV. The documentary contends that thousands of victims who received transfusions of blood products derived from these plasma products, Factor VIII, died as a result.[1][2]

Summary[edit]

Factor 8 examines a prison blood-harvesting scheme run by prisoners for profit. The blood was sold by blood companies for millions of dollars. The harvested plasma was then shipped around the world, where it infected haemophilia patients.[3][4]

Release[edit]

Factor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal was screened at Slamdance 2005 and at the American Film Institute′s Los Angeles Film Festival in November 2005.[5] It won a special mention award at AFI and received a commendable review from critic John Anderson in the industry newspaper Variety.[6]

A screening of the film was held in Soho, London on May 5, 2006. On May 9, 2006, AIDS victims demonstrated against former US president Bill Clinton, who had been Governor of Arkansas when the blood factor sales had taken place, during his visit to Glasgow.[7] The British premiere of Factor 8 was held on September 29, 2006, as part of the 14th Raindance Film Festival in Piccadilly Circus, London.[8]

Reception and impact[edit]

After Cummins prisoner Rolf Kaestel gave testimony in Duda’s documentary, state corrections officials relocated him to Utah, where he’s been incarcerated ever since. Duda alleged to The Daily Beast that this was in retribution for his comments, calling Kaestel a, "political prisoner."[9]

On November 3, 2005, Carolyn Leckie, Member of Scottish Parliament (MSP), submitted a motion recognizing the need for a wide audience for Factor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal, which 22 MSPs signed. The motion also called for a full independent public inquiry into what led to the infections and what the response should be.[10] In May 2007, they announced an impending inquiry into tainted blood.[11]

On July 11, 2007, Duda testified at the Lord Archer Inquiry on Contaminated Blood in Westminster, United Kingdom.[12] Duda spoke on the United States' (and Arkansas's) role in the events.[13] On July 11. 2017, Prime Minister Theresa May ordered anonther inquiry in the UK into how contaminated blood in the 1970s and 1980s resulted in the deaths of at least 2,400 people and infected thousands more.[14]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Hattenstone, Simon (3 March 2018). "Britain's contaminated blood scandal: ′I need them to admit they killed our son′". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2020-04-13. In the 1970s and 80s, 4,689 haemophiliacs became infected with hepatitis C and HIV after they were treated with contaminated blood products supplied by the NHS. Of those infected, 2,883 have since died.
  2. ^ Herron Zamora, Jim (3 June 2003). "Bad blood between hemophiliacs, Bayer: Patients sue over tainted transfusions spreading HIV, hep C". San Francisco Chronicle. USA. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2020-04-15. A San Francisco attorney filed a class–action lawsuit Monday on behalf of thousands of hemophiliacs who claim that Bayer Corp. and several other companies knowingly sold blood products contaminated with HIV and hepatitis C.
  3. ^ "Blood money". Salon.com. 1998-12-24. Retrieved 2020-04-15. Administrators then sold the blood to brokers, who in turn shipped it to other states, and to Japan, Italy, Spain and Canada.
  4. ^ Elizabeth J. Cabraser (28 August 2003). First Amended Class Action Complaint for Damages and Injunction Relief (Report). Lieff Cabraser. p. 2. CASE No. C 03–2572 PJH. Retrieved 2020-04-13. Plaintiffs′ claims arise out of the most egregious misconduct in the history of the pharmaceutical industry, which resulted in the killing of thousands of hemophiliacs worldwide, with a continuing death rate of hundreds of victims per year.
  5. ^ McDougall, Liam (30 October 2005). "Scandal of infected US blood revealed in film exposé". Sunday Herald. Scotland. Archived from the original on 10 August 2006. Retrieved 2020-04-16. The documentary also reveals for the first time how senior figures in the prison system doctored prisoners′ medical records to make it look like they were not carrying the deadly diseases. Even after it was known there was a problem, the film reveals, blood products were allowed to be supplied to Europe, including to the UK, where thousands of patients were infected with HIV and the potentially fatal liver virus, hepatitis.
  6. ^ "Factor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal". 15 November 2005. Archived from the original on 2006-05-12. Retrieved 2006-09-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  7. ^ "Clinton warning on global warming". BBC News Channel. Glasgow. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 2020-04-13. Mr Clinton′s visit provoked protests from some groups. Andy Gunn, who contracted HIV and hepatitis from infected blood products, said that while Mr Clinton was governor of Arkansas, contaminated blood from prisons was exported to other countries.
  8. ^ "Factor 8: The Arkansas Prison Blood Scandal". Raindance.co.uk. 29 September 2006. Retrieved 2020-04-14.
  9. ^ "He Robbed a Taco Joint With a Toy Water Gun for $264. He Got Life in Prison - Kate Briquelet". The Daily Beast. 31 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Haemophilia Blood Product Disaster". Scottish Parliament. 3 November 2005. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  11. ^ Lord Mackay of Drumadoon (5 February 2008). Opinion of Lord Mackay of Drumadoon (Report). Scottish Courts and Tribunals. p. 13. It is clear that the Scottish Government, which assumed office in May 2007, has given a commitment to hold a public enquiry to ″find out why people were infected with Hepatitis C through NHS treatment″.
  12. ^ Hilderbrandt, William (16 July 2007). "Tainted blood: Infected blood, the American filmmaker, and allegations of a government cover-up". The New Statesman. London. Retrieved 2020-04-13. By the time he was done testifying to Lord Archer of Sandwell′s Inquiry, those in the audience who weren′t familiar with his work had been swayed that the scandal was even worse than they realised – an idea that seemed impossible only one hour earlier.
  13. ^ "Haemophilia grant protest at Lords". Channel 4. 2008-10-09. Archived from the original on 2008-10-10. Retrieved 2015-03-31.
  14. ^ "U.K. Orders New Inquiry Into Contaminated-Blood Scandal". New York Times. 2017-07-11.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Factor_8:_The_Arkansas_Prison_Blood_Scandal&oldid=1197796346"