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The Poison Line

Life and Death in the Infected Blood Scandal

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The Poison Line

By: Cara McGoogan
Narrated by: Cara McGoogan
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

The shocking true story of the infected blood scandal: the worst treatment disaster in NHS history, which saw people infected with HIV by a revolutionary medical treatment and a cover-up from governments and the multi-billion-dollar plasma industry.


Factor VIII was billed as a medical miracle when it was put on the market in the late 1960s: a revolutionary treatment that meant people with haemophilia no longer feared a bleed might prove fatal. But as the treatment was rolled out, haemophiliacs began to contract hepatitis and AIDS in terrifying numbers.

Even as medical bodies and pharmaceutical companies tried to discredit whistleblowers and diminish the evidence, it became abundantly clear that the miracle treatment was infected. Factor VIII was killing the very people it promised to protect. And government embarked on a cover-up on an industrial scale.

Award-winning investigative journalist Cara McGoogan follows the survivors-turned-campaigners, the small-town lawyers and the fearless journalists who took on some of the most powerful interests in the world to uncover what really happened in the infected blood scandal.

©2023 Cara McGoogan (P)2023 Penguin Audio
Business & Careers Physical Illness & Disease True Crime Exciting
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Narrator’s irritating voice spoiled my experience

Title says it all really. Story was well told and nicely paced. The narrator spoiled it.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Compelling

Brilliant, heartbreaking and compelling book. It’s a story that needed to be told about the blood scandal. It spotlights the human impact of the bad and unethical decision making at the heart of this scandal.

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The truth comes out in the end.

How the facts of this tragedy had been covered up by the government for so long is disgusting.

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1 person found this helpful

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Infuriating story

I had to put this away multiple times because i was too angry and sad to listen any further. Great reporting, writing and narration. Would recommend!

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Great book. Excellent perspective.

McGoogan offers a clear yet compassionate perspective on the CBS. I especially appreciated the opportunity to visit America and the pharmaceutical industry as well as the hospitals around the world who were administering Factor 8. My family has been deeply wounded by the CBS and it was very helpful (and sometimes therapeutic) to read such a clear book on the topic. I also appreciate when this book has been released and hope that it generates the buzz it deserves.

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Devastating account of hubris, abuse of power and human suffering

A story that everyone needs to know, not just because of the avoidable suffering and pain but as a warning from history given the current perilous state of the NHS and absence of moral character amongst our politicians and media.

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A very enlightening book

An informative, helpful and sometimes, downright shocking account of the infected blood scandal. A "must read" for Haemophiliacs everywhere.

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"Scandal" doesn't even begin to describe it

I would like every person in Britain, the US and every other country where people were used as guinea pigs to prop up big pharma's profits, to read/listen to this book. The callous disregard for human life - in many cases children's lives - is absolutely gut-wrenching. Brava to Cara McGoogan for picking apart the evidence and creating such an eye-opening report. The way she weaves in the real stories of the people involved brought a tear to my eyes, many times. I hope the victims and their families will see justice.

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Bored narrator ruins an important audiobook

This should be required reading, but the bored, raspy monotone of the author / narrator makes it hard to listen to for more than 20 minutes at a time.

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