A contaminated blood donation scandal that may have led to thousands contracting HIV and hepatitis C led a Royal Canadian Mounted Police task force to file charges Wednesday against the Canadian Red Cross, a U.S. pharmaceutical company and four physicians. According to authorities, a recently concluded five-year investigation discovered that over 1,200 people contracted HIV and thousands more became infected with hepatitis C due to improper blood donor screenings in the 1970's and 1980's. Investigators believe prison inmates, who are extremely high-risk donors, may have provided blood units during this period. The Canadian Red Cross began HIV screenings in 1985 and hepatitis C screenings in 1990.

Dr. Roger Perrault, the former director of the Red Cross' blood transfusion service, Armour Pharmaceutical Company of Pennsylvania, Armour's former vice president and two government physicians were all charged with common nuisance and criminal negligence. The Red Cross is also accused of improperly screening potential HIV donors.