Thursday, July 17, 2008

Very Slow Learners

Fifteen years ago the FDA warned the Red Cross that their procedures for collecting and processing blood needed to be improved. At that time - and today - screening of donors for exposure to disease is not consistently performed, tests for syphilis are not routine, preparation of the area from which blood is to be taken is not what it should be and, most disturbingly, bad blood is not necessarily always disposed of.

I can't believe that I'm writing about this as it's essentially the same as a post less than twenty months ago. The numbers have gone up. Then the fines totaled $15,000,000, now they're $21,000,000. It just seems that, when it comes to blood, the Red Cross is a disaster area. Sound management is needed and badly.

1 comment:

Flimsy Sanity said...

Maybe they should reduce the half million salary of the CEO, eliminate some of the board of directors, and spend the money for lowly lab technicians, she fantasized.

At the least, they should give patients a two tier price sheet for tested or untested blood - that would be a free market solution.