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Conspiracy Nation Vol. 01 Num. 98
Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 1 Num. 98
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
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AIDS: What the Government Isn't Telling You
by Lorraine Day, M.D.
(Part 4)
In the last installment, the concept that the donor can be relied
on to be careful not to donate blood when he knows he himself has
been infected with the AIDS virus was introduced. Dr. Day delves
further into this myth in a chapter called "The Myth of Self-
Deferral". This concept of self-deferral may have influenced the
fact that, although a test was available for detecting AIDS
antibodies by 1985, testing of donors blood was not *required*
until 1988. As included excerpts from an article in the
*Philadelphia Inquirer* point out,
The FDA did not require an AIDS test on donated blood until
January 5, 1988, almost three years after the first test for
detecting AIDS antibodies in blood came into use in March
1985.
Between 1987 and 1988, the number of recalls of suspect
blood almost tripled.
For at least a year, people who had tested positive for the
deadly AIDS virus were allowed to walk the streets of
Philadelphia without knowing it. They had sold their blood
plasma to the Community Bank and Plasma Center... The Center
tested the blood for the AIDS virus and until 1987 notified
in writing anyone who tested positive, according to a
company executive. But that year, the Center stopped mailing
these notifications after a city-funded AIDS group objected
to the way it was being done.
There is no federal regulation requiring blood banks to
notify donors who test positive for AIDS. The Food and Drug
Administration, the federal agency responsible for the
safety of the American blood supply, recommends notifying
donors but leaves the decision up to the blood banks and
plasma centers.
From March 1988 to March 1989, blood banks and commercial
plasma centers had to recall nearly 100,000 blood components
and medicines made from blood that had been erroneously
released, FDA records show.
In this marketplace, blood, a vital resource, gets less
government protection than grapes or poultry or pretzels.
Dog kennels in Pennsylvania are inspected more frequently
than blood banks. {1}.
"Self-deferral", in practice, means that potential donors are
asked a barrage of sometimes obtuse questions (e.g. "Have you
engaged in prostitution since 1977 or had sex within the last 12
months with someone who has *even once*?") to screen out those
who may be already infected with HIV. Dr. Day gives other reasons
why the screening of potential donors does not inspire
confidence:
--* Work places may put pressure on people to donate blood who
should not have to do so.
--* Some corporations offer perks for donating blood.
--* The self-deferral form is hard to read.
--* Previously mentioned, "blood terrorism"; i.e., willingly
infecting the blood supply.
Dr. Day explores the money factor behind the reluctance to make
improvements in the current setup. "There are vested interests"
and "there is money to be made".
Hang on. It gets worse. What about bone banks, semen banks, and
tissue and organ transplant banks? The first CDC guidelines for
bone banks weren't even written until August 1988. Why the delay?
"Every doctor in the world knows that the substance that
nourishes a bone is blood. Did it not dawn on you," asked Dr.
Day, "that if blood transmitted HIV, then bone, semen, connective
tissue, tendons and all organs should also transmit HIV?"
"Well," replied the "experts", "we've never seen it happen."
"The consensus in that CDC room was sheer textbook AIDSpeak: *to
infer transmission without evidence would have been unwarranted
and highly suspect speculation unworthy of this august
fellowship*." In other words, since it has not yet been proven,
they aren't going to worry about it.
--------------------------<< Notes >>----------------------------
{1} Quotes from the *Philadelphia Inquirer*, Sept. 24-28, Five-
part series on Blood Banks, Gilbert M. Gaul, Reporter.
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et
pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9
