By 1983, the UK government knew that there was HIV in the blood supply. So did the plasma industry: memos discovered by hemophiliacs suing the giant pharmaceutical company Bayer, which owned the plasma fractionator Cutter Biological, show Cutter managers acknowledging in 1983 that “there is strong evidence to suggest that HIV is passed on to other people through … plasma products.” Later in the year, Cutter staff predicted a “gigantic epidemic” among hemophiliacs.27
