For more than two decades, the Arkansas prison system sold blood plasma from inmates infected with viral hepatitis and AIDS. Thousands of unwitting victims who transfused a product called Factor 8 made from this blood died as a result. Follow along as filmmaker Kelly Duda uncovers a tragedy many consider a crime. This documentary follows the story of how tainted blood was sold to patients in Canada and other parts of the world while Bill Clinton was governor. It offers an unsettling look at the complex issues surrounding prison corruption, blood safety and government oversight. Factor 8 also raises tough questions about public accountability. Did leaders knowingly sell a dangerous product for profit? Criminal investigations and class-action suits in Canada, Europe and Japan over tainted blood infections underscore the global significance of this issue. Families are still grieving. Victims are still dying. Yet while the rest of the world looks to America for answers, the story remains largely untold.
—Kelly Duda