IP: Red Cross will burn blood, can't store surplus collected

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: "RV Head" <4whp () home com>
> To: "Farber () Cis Upenn Edu" <farber () cis upenn edu>
>
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8969-2001Nov10.html
>
> The American Red Cross collected hundreds of thousands of blood donations
> after Sept. 11 knowing that the blood could not be used for victims of the
> terrorist attacks.
>
> After selling some of the surplus blood to hospitals, the Red Cross has
> begun to destroy thousands of pints that have outlasted their shelf life.
> Directors of several Red Cross blood centers said their sites may discard as
> many as 1 of every 5 donations and the national total could easily reach
> tens of thousands.
>
> The charitable outpouring offered an opportunity for the $2.5 billion-a-year
> organization to restock its depleted blood inventory.
>
> Although the Red Cross told the public that surplus blood would be frozen,
> it did not have the resources to freeze large amounts of excess blood,
> according to documents and interviews.
>
> The Red Cross, which is the nation's largest blood supplier, declined to
> answer questions about how much extra blood was collected. Spokesmen said
> the Red Cross kept collecting blood because it did not want to turn away
> donors and hoped to create a reserve in case of more terrorist attacks.
>
> They noted that every blood donation yields some lifesaving byproduct, such
> as plasma.
>
> The nonprofit Red Cross collects more than 6 million pints of blood annually
> and earns about $1.5 billion, or 60 percent of its revenue, by selling
> donated red cells, platelets and plasma to hospitals for more than $225 a
> unit.
>
> The Red Cross estimated that less than 10 percent of the donations will be
> discarded, but some of its blood-bank directors disputed that. They said the
> Red Cross collected at least 250,000 and perhaps as much as 400,000 extra
> pints in the month after the attack.
>
> The events surrounding Sept. 11 illustrate the tensions that exist over the
> management and control of the nation's fragile blood supply. It is a
> business much like a public utility, managed by a mix of nonprofit and
> for-profit companies that compete for donors and market share. Their
> dealings seldom attract public attention.
>
> The Red Cross decisions in the days after Sept. 11 created a standoff with
> other blood groups, which opposed collecting unneeded supplies of a
> perishable product. Federal officials tried to negotiate a unified policy,
> but the Red Cross balked at a plan to encourage donors to delay
> their donations.
>
> "It's inexcusable," said Arthur Caplan, a University of Pennsylvania
> ethicist and until recently chairman of the Advisory Committee on Blood
> Safety and Availability for the Health and Human Services Department.
>
> "It could be very damaging and cost them an enormous amount of goodwill."
<snip>


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