Blood Transfusion related Hepatitis C

I was wondering how many of the people on here got HCV from a blood transfusion?  In 1989 my daughter received a blood transfusion which resulted in HCV infection.   She died in 2004 and in trying to understand how this could have happened, I discovered that the blood supply in the United States is horrible.  I sued the Red Cross, who wanted to settle with me, which I did not do because I would have had to sign a confidentiality statement. The suit was dismissed because of a statute of limitations issue.  The Red Cross never understood that is was not about money it was about them cleaning up the blood supply.

[Magnum]

Had several hip replacements prior to 1992, due to JRA. The speculation from the Gastro coincides with other doctors that since I never did drugs or wild sex (although it was tempting), it could only have come from a transfusion. Never look back, always forward and damn the torpedoes. Treat, heal and enjoy life is my motto. Otherwise, cave in to this and all other problems in life and end up a statistic...

Magnum

[James10500]

I had two transfusions in the 60's.  That was my only risk exposure, other than hetro sex and as we all know those chances are low to null.  As my Doc ( Gregory Everson) explained to me there was no screening pre 1992, and the virus can lie dormant for decades as well.  It looks like it's been active for 15-20 years guesstimate based on the damage to my liver.

I am sorry for your lose.

Jim

[James10500]

Loss, not lose.

[sbd5251]

I have made it my mission to get them to clean up the blood supply and have a lawyer that is working pro bono for me.  I am going to send an open letter to my congressional delegation to the Washington Post.  Blood donations are the way the Red Cross makes their money. They send out blood everyday with HIV, HCV,  mad cow disease and anything you can imagine.  They send it out and then recall it but by the time they do, it has already been distributed. It makes me mad that they put children's lives at risk. It would shock you to know how bad it really is.  If you are interested go to http://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls/enforcementreports/default.htm  and scroll down to biologics and just look at what goes out and the reasons.

[meakea]

sbd5251 I am very sorry for your loss.  

In answer to your question, I believe I got HCV from a blood transfusion on December 30, 1954...a very, very long time ago.  It was my only obvious exposure but that's not to say I couldn't have gotten it from botched vaccinations, etc. as a child  I do, however, know that I have had Hep C for a very, very long time because my old medical records show elevated LFTs back into the late 70's...thus, I'm pretty darn sure it was the blood transfusion.  My situation is much different than your daughter's was in that Hep C was not even on the radar for the medical community or the blood banks back then...and, without the blood transfusion I would have been a dead 2 day old baby.

I haven't read your link yet but I will because I am interested in the blood supply news.  I will say that I am always appalled when people tell others who are wondering if they have Hep C to "go donate blood" and you will get a free test for Hep C.  That just makes me shiver.  I also know of a woman who sold her plasma for years and then one year they notified her that she had Hep C.  Turns out she had had Hep C for 20-30 years but none of the previous plasma tests caught it.  How many people did her plasma infect?

[Marcia2202]

I'm very very sorry for your loss. I can only try to imagine how it would be to lose one's child.

As to blood transfusion and blood products prior to 1992. The problem is that Hep C was only identified in 1989 and they were not able to screen blood for it until 1991 - 1992.

If I'm not mistaken, they actually cannot be sued for any hep c infections caused by blood or blood products prior to 1992. Anything after that would be negligence.

[nygirl7]

I agree with Marcia the blood supply is much safer now since 1992 than it was then.  If today a new disease were to be discovered though they could not be held responsible for the years prior...since they couldn't have known or done anything about it.

Of course there is always human error that could be factored as well but for the majority of us older folks I dont think we could prove that we got it via blood transfusion since many people have no idea how they got the disease and have not had any of the obvious ways (IVdu, xfusion, piercings etc) or had multiple ways that they could have gotten it.

I am very sorry for the loss of your child it seems to have happened very, very, very fast usually hepc is a slowly progressing disease that takes decades to do any serious damage.  Most of us have had it from 20 - 30 years and aren't in end stage yet.  I have never heard of anyone contracting it and dying in only five years. That is truly horrible.

[nygirl7]

OOOOops 15 years I guess I"m not as smart as I used to be :(

[sbd5251]

I am sorry to tell all of you but the blood supply today is not any safer than it was in 1989,  when Candace had her transfusion.  Please go to the  FDA website and just look at the blood that was recalled. They send it out and then recall it.   By the time the recall is sent out, the blood has already been been distributed.  The website is

http://www.fda.gov/safety/recalls/enforcementreports/default.htm

Go to any week and scroll down to biologics.  I check every week because I know the blood supply is not as safe as the American Red Cross claims that it is.  They recalled 112 units in January 2010 with HIV.  In the last few weeks, they recalled over 4000 units that donor suitability was not adequately determined.  As far as suing the ARC,  I could sue them and did, but they did not want it to go to trial so they used the statute of limitations to have it thrown out.  I live in  SC where the statute of limitations is 3 years and Candace got the blood in Georgia and Georgia's is 2 years.  

[sunshines76]

The information you give in your posts scares me. I got a blood transfusion as a newborn in 1976. It was in Ukraine, not the U.S., but sure USSR's blood supply was not any safer too... Now, my newborn son had a blood transfusion in 2007. It was offered to us an option, and I was against doing it, but the doc insisted on blood transfusion and claimed that it was as safe as it could be... I wonder what I have to check my son for now...

[wtgb]

I am so sorry for your loss.  I can't even imagine what you are going through.  I am very concerned about the blood supply as my 7 year old just recently received 2 blood transfusions from a well known childrens hospital (not for HEP C).  When my husband asked if he could donate his own blood for our son we were told it would take too long  this particular time (because it was an ER situation).  We learned at this time that it may be reality that he may need more tranfusions in the future. I am very interested in keeping informed about the blood supply.

I have made so many bargains with "the big guy" to please let me take this all on so my children don"t have to .  I am 37 weeks into treatment and hoping for the best!!
Please let me know how i can be an advocate for making sure as best I can that my son doesn't recieve tainted blood and I pray that the blood he already rec'd will not come back to us at any time in his life.  

I am inspired by your dedication to this in honor of your daughter

[sbd5251]

I have been researching this issue for 8 years now and have a wonderful lawyer that is helping me.  He is receiving no payment from me or anybody else because I cannot afford to pay such fees.  My advice to anybody that has had a blood transfusion is to go to your family physician and have their blood tested for everything.  If you went to the FDA website, you saw what concerns me.  I don't want another child to go through what Candace went through.  I have paperwork that I found where the American Red Cross had blood that had AIDS, they knew it had AIDS and falsified records and sent it out to hospitals anyway.  For each unit of blood that is donated,  they run it through a filtration system and get RBC, Platelets, Plasma and 5 or 6 other products from that whole blood.  They then turn around and sell it to people that are in need for $800 to $1200 a unit.  They have been fined by the FDA more than any other organization in the US.  The last time I checked the total was over $37,000.000  for blood policy violations.  

Go have your Doctor run tests for everything.  The vCJD is a form of Mad Cow disease.  Candace had an illness that as yet has not been diagnosed.  She got sick when she was 2 years old and had severe brain damage from the illness.  After a 16 days in Pediatric ICU and another 10 days in a regular room,  I brought home a child that had the mentality of a 2 month old.  She lived to be until January 11, 2004  I am not doing this for sympathy.

If I can help someone out there, I am willing to do anything I can.  If God forbid, anything does come back abnormal, get a lawyer.   I will give my lawyer permission to give you any and all the information that I have accumulated over the past 8 years.  I have a ton of information.  I have committee meeting minutes, newspaper articles and in fact I don't even remember what information I have.  

I WILL NOT GIVE UP ON THIS.   CANDACE IS PUSHING ME AND MY LAWYER ONWARD WITH THIS.  THE AMERICAN RED CROSS WILL CLEAN UP THE BLOOD SUPPLY AND QUIT LYING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

[Magnum]

Had several hip replacements prior to 1992, due to JRA. The speculation from the Gastro coincides with other doctors that since I never did drugs or wild sex (although it was tempting), it could only have come from a transfusion. Never look back, always forward and damn the torpedoes. Treat, heal and enjoy life is my motto. Otherwise, cave in to this and all other problems in life and end up a statistic...

Magnum

[sbd5251]

How do I remove best answer from a post.  I dont know how I did it.

[Trinity4]

If you don't mind me asking did your daughter die from liver failure of complications due to the brain damage?

Trinity

[sbd5251]

When she died we had an autopsy performed because we had never had a diagnosis.  The autopsy report said she had a mild case of pneumonia in  her lungs and cirrhosis of the liver due to chronic hepatitis C. Due to her brain damage she had seizures on a daily basis.  Because HCV effects your liver, we could never get her seizures under control.  Her Doctor was ahead of the curve and would tell me something was coming on the market and we tried everything as soon as it was released.   But nothing worked.  I believe that if the Red Cross had notified us when they found the blood had HCV, Candace's  quality of life would have been better.  She was in the hospital 14 times in the last 18 months she was alive.

As far as the autopsy,  my husband and I had decided that we needed to find out if it was hereditary.  We have an older daughter that was going to grow up and get married.   We didnt want her to face what we had.  

We didnt find out anything, but the pathologist asked me about keeping slides and i told her she could keep body parts if she thought we might learn something.  To make a long story short, Candace's illness started with the brain damage.  Her brain is at the Mayo Clinic.  The Pathologist at the Mayo clinic said they would probably study it for the next hundred years.

She could have lived a long time with the brain damage but the HCV was too much for her.  By the time we were notified,   I did not see the point  in putting her through the misery of treatment for the HCV.  Honestly, I think she was ready to go heaven, God was ready for her, and I had seen her suffer for 14 1/2 years and was ready for her to go too.  In fact, on Friday night I told her that if she was ready that I was ready.

I hope that doesnt sound callous or morbid about her brain, but it may help another child someday.

[Trinity4]

Thank you for sharing.  It doesn't sound callous or morbid to me.  I am a parent and it sounds like a loving mother who tried to provide the best quality of life she could for her gravely ill child.  I wish you and your family the best.

Trinity

[Diane12855]

I checked the link you gave us but I couldn't find anything that had to do with the Red Cross putting out bad blood products. I went back to 2008. What are you seeing that makes you think it is bad blood products?

Diane

[sbd5251]

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/EnforcementReports/ucm229271.htm



PRODUCT
Red Blood Cells Leukocytes Reduced. Recall # B-2499-10
CODE
Unit: 53GR74118
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
American National Red Cross, Greater Chesapeake & Potomac Region, Baltimore, MD, by telephone on December 15, 2005 and by letter on December 16, 2005. Firm initiated recall is complete.
REASON
Blood product, collected from an unsuitable donor based on travel to an area considered endemic for malaria, was distributed.
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
1 unit
DISTRIBUTION
MD


http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/EnforcementReports/ucm196398.htm

[sbd5251]

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/EnforcementReports/ucm196398.htm

RECALLS AND FIELD CORRECTIONS: BIOLOGICS - CLASS II
___________________________________
PRODUCT
Red Blood Cells Leukocytes Reduced. Recall # B-0314-10
CODE
Unit: 18FG39903
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
American National Red Cross Great Lakes Region, Lansing, MI, by telephone and electronic notification on July 29, 2009. Firm initiated recall is complete.
REASON
Blood product, collected from a donor for whom donor suitability was not adequately determined, was distributed.
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
1 unit
DISTRIBUTION
MI
___________________________________
PRODUCT
Red Blood Cells, Leukocytes Reduced, Irradiated. Recall # B-0343-10
CODE
Unit: 003KK63076
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
The American National Red Cross - Southern Region, Douglasville, GA, by facsimile and e-mail on November 17, 2008 and by letter dated November 24, 2008. Firm initiated recall is complete.
REASON
Blood product, collected from a donor for whom donor suitability was not adequately determined, was distributed.
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
1 unit
DISTRIBUTION
GA
___________________________________
PRODUCT
Red Blood Cells Leukocytes Reduced. Recall # B-0345-10
CODE
Unit: 01GJ16697
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
American Red Cross Blood Services, West Henrietta, NY, by facsimile and electronic notification on December 23, 2008.
Manufacturer: American Red Cross Blood Services, Albany, NY. Firm initiated recall is complete.
REASON
Blood product, collected from a donor for whom donor suitability was not adequately determined, was distributed.
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
1 unit
DISTRIBUTION
PA
___________________________________
PRODUCT
1) Red Blood Cells. Recall # B-0354-10;
2) Red Blood Cells Leukocytes Reduced. Recall # B-0356-10
CODE
1) Unit: 011KY30467;
2) Units: 011LE36084, 011KV25525, 011KY27758
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
American Red Cross Blood Services, Saint Louis, MO, by facsimile on September 26, 2008 and letter dated October 31, 2008. Firm initiated recall is complete.
REASON
Blood products, collected from a donor who was previously deferred for testing positive for the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), were distributed.
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
4 units
DISTRIBUTION
AR, TN, MO
___________________________________
PRODUCT
Red Blood Cells (Apheresis) Leukocytes Reduced. Recall # B-0357-10
CODE
Unit: 01FT28699 (Parts 1 & 2)
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
American Red Cross Blood Services, West Henrietta, NY, by telephone on July 24, 2009. Firm initiated recall is complete.
REASON
Blood products, which were labeled as leukoreduced, but were not tested to verify white blood cell count, were distributed.
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
2 units
DISTRIBUTION
NY
___________________________________
PRODUCT
1) Plasma Frozen within 24 hours (FP24). Recall # B-0360-10;
2) Red Blood Cells Leukocytes Reduced. Recall # B-0362-10
CODE
1) 20X40824;
2) 20X40824, 20Z22013
RECALLING FIRM/MANUFACTURER
The American National Red Cross, Salt Lake City UT, by e-mail and facsimile on July 16, 2009 and by letter dated July 20, 2009. Firm initiated recall is complete.
REASON
Blood products, collected from a donor for whom donor suitability was not adequately determined, were distributed.
VOLUME OF PRODUCT IN COMMERCE
3 units
DISTRIBUTION
NC, ID

[sbd5251]

I cannot imagine why you did not see any American Red Cross blood recalls.  I personally think that if donor suitability is not adequately determined then they should not be distributing it to the public. I  just dont understand you not seeing even one unit blood that was distributed.

[jwalia]

Madam,

I do feel sorry for your loss.  As a father of a 14 year old thalassemic girl i can well understand the morbid fear of contacting any sort of these deadly infections whether HIV or HCV every time you go for a transfusion.  My daughter had more than 300 transfusions till now.  Last year she underwent bone marrow transplant and after her transplant, i was informed that her hepatitic virus got reactivated.  I don't know if it was reactivation or a new infection from the transfusions she got during the transplant.  Can you imagine the shock we had when we were informed.  It felt like out of frying pan into the fire.  
I belong to a middle class family and the expense which we have undegone for transplant and treatment was done by me without any govt or insurance help.  Now when they talk about interferon treatment i am not sure from where we can arrange the money.  
I am not a religious man, but sometimes it comes to my mind that "a man does not live by the bread he eats, he lives by the will of God himself".  For the past 14 years we have struggled, but she is still alive against all the odds. Every day when i see her, i cherish the movement as she is still alive and with me.

I really feel very sorry for your loss.  May God give you the strength to carry on with the wonderful work you are doing as it will save the life of so many innocent kids.

Love

walia  

[sbd5251]

I am so sorry to hear about your daughter.  I truly do know how you feel.  I am from a middle class family too, but my husband had insurance through his job. I dont know what we would have done without insurance.  I would try the drug companies.  Sometimes they have programs to help people with the expenses of drug therapy.  I am hoping that it will bring attention to the problem World Wide.  The Red Cross is in almost every country in the world.  I would like to add you as a friend and keep track of your daughters progress.   God helped me through the years with Candace.  He always sent me who I needed when I needed them.  Camdace  had a wonderful neurologist, family doctor, and pharmacist.  They all worked with me with her expenses and never refused  to do anything I asked.  They are all very close friends of mine now.    God will help you. too.  You and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

[Diane12855]

I don't know why I didn't see them either. I just highlighted the link you provided, right-clicked and selected go to that site. I'll try it again.

Diane

[nygirl7]

Well all I can really say is usually if you need a transfusion - you really need to have the transfusion.  When I was dying a few years ago I gladly took the blood regardless of what it could have had, at the time it was more important to me.  It's not the kind of thing people do just for jolly's. No system is perfect but certainly if you need the blood you need the blood.

[Diane12855]

You're right there. I guess that in this world that has mistakes happening in every area every day, 10 -15 units getting by that weren't completely evaluated out of the thousands of units that are processed every day doesn't seem like that much... unless you are the one to get one of those units. Just like we have seen with the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL and that colonoscopy clinic in Nevada, careless, inconsiderate people get hired by lots of medical facilities... People who don't care about others have no business in the healthcare field.

Diane

[sbd5251]

I agree wholeheartedly with you.  I was in the same position.  But with the technology we have today we should be issued some kind of card that can be checked instantly when you go to give blood.  The practice of buying blood products should be stopped.  If i go in a store and want to make a purchase,  they can tell instantly if i have the funds available.
I was in the same position you were in with Candace.  Give her the  blood or let her die.  But I did trust the ARC and expected to get good blood.  If they can tell instantly about money then the system should be just as good for blood.  The people that are make the decisions should never take a unit of blood until the donor suitability is absolutely not in question.

[nygirl7]

I guess really it is a good lesson about having family members store up their own blood if they can afford to do so.  I have always assumed that I got this disease in the 80s from being a stupid ignorant child making stupid dumb mistakes however I have had several tfusions in my life (although much later and I have too much liver damage to have been them I THINK).  We should be able to trust the blood supply that much is true.

"People who don't care about others have no business in the healthcare field. "

YOU GOT THAT RIGHT!!!!!!!!! People in the position to be able to steal drugs / syringes etc. should be tested REGULARLY as a part of the job.  I guess it would be rather intrusive but heck they could drug test us here at work whenever they want if they feel like it......and I have no access to anything like that. I'd have to get reinfected, stab myself with a tack and then go shake someones hand and stab them with it too ;) not so dangerous or exciting.

[blondie717]

in 1997 my mother always gave plasma (she sold it for more vodka, I like to say she gave vodka with alittle plasma)..she went in too falling down, sloppy drunk one time. they tested and called her in, she thought she had aids and wanted me in that room with her. They would not allow me in with her consent...She came out and said they said she could never give blood again. She died around 2003? from the final stages of liver failure...I wonder what they did with all the other vodka Oops I mean plasma she had sold ever 10 or 15 days???? Who got that??? And what was really wrong with her??? If it was just the booze they might of said wait 72 hrs before selling plasma???  No I dont think our blood suply is safe... My sweet hubby had blood transfusion in washington , for a gunshot would to the neck...that was around 1998. I dont know how he got his hep c.... Hey maybe my hubby got my mama's blood. And then gave me his...

[SusieS2010]

I am so sorry for your loss. What you are doing today is true advocacy. God bless you.

I, too, got my HCV from a blood transfusion in 1966. I really needed that blood or I would have died. I do have cirrhosis but I got 44 years so far, from that blood. I pray no one else must go through what your daughter did.

[James10500]

Some real selfish people out there.  Giving blood when they are drunk and those that enable them.  No excuses absolutely disgusting.

[sbd5251]

I need the people like you that got Hepatitis C from blood transfusions and know other people that did to be standing with me.  I am going to do something to clean up this mess.   There is no reason in the world for this to be happening in the greatest nation in the world.  I have a great set of lawyers, that are working on this for me for nothing.  This has haunted my lawyer who is not even a partner in the law firm and he and I  have the blessings of the senior partner of the law firm. I have some letters that I have written to my Congressional Delegation that my lawyer is looking at to make sure that i dont end up in jail.  I could be considered a terrorist threat.  I know that I may sound like a NUT but I dont care.  As I said in an earlier post, suing them was not money related, it was about them cleaning up their mess.  If you are in the situation where you need any type of blood product,  you should be confident that it is clean.  One of my Senators staff members asked me what the percentage was of blood that was contaminated.  My response was (excuse my language)  and I quote "Who gives a damn about percentages, when you are the one that gets contaminated blood".   I asked one of the lawyers for the ARC that someday somebody he loved would need a unit of blood.  He will remember Candace when that happens.

[child24angel]

The blood supply is still not safe.  It' much better then it was in
the late 70's early 80's...not 100 %

My daughter had her baby by emergency C section last year and had
to sign a waiver that she knew if she needed a blood transfusion
it might contain HCV...she signed it and said , there should be 0 chance.

My son passed away from HCV two years ago when he was 26.
Had severe hemophilia and had plasma until he was two.
Also, my brother a hemophiliac passed away had Aids/HCV/HEP B
he was 30.  

I don't know if you can do much about this now.  Things are still getting through yes,
not nearly as bad as it was. I hope you can find some closure however, you never
get over the loss of a child, not ever.  I sincerely wish you good luck

I'm truly , truly very sorry for your loss.
Elaine

[sbd5251]

My mother had to have surgery several years ago and she would not sign the waiver when they brought into her because she said she would never take blood.  I agreed with her but did not say anything.  My three brothers came to me and asked me to talk to her and tell her to sign the papers.  I knew if I didnt say something to her they would never forgive me for it.   So I did talk with her and told her  "Sign the papers, Mom. I think old age will get you before HCV "  She laughed and said "OK, I guess you have a point after all I am 84 years old."  She didnt have to have it but she did sign the paper.   But we as survivors of people that got contaminated blood should not have to put up with the sloppy,  money hungry people in high salaried jobs deciding to send out blood that is contaminated.  I dont blame the people that are what I call the everyday worker at the ARC and other blood banks too.  I blame the people that are in power that could do something to make them clean up the blood supply.  They have done it to the tobacco industry, MADD got the drinking age raised to 21, and I dont see why we cant get the blood supply safer.  I know it will never be 100% safe but it can be a lot, lot safer than it is.

If someone, can give me a good explanation for blood products going out with donor suitability not adequately determined or donor previously permanently deferred for HIV or donor had vCJD,  or had traveled to an area endemic for malaria,  then i will gladly go away quietly. Maybe LOL  

I am a truly blessed person.  I have a very close family.  I have a healthy, happy, married daughter that is my pride and joy.  I  have a lot of young people in my life that keep me going.  

[nutpea]

     I wish you luck in your battle. It will make the world a safer place in the medical area..There is no reason for a person to win one battle only to sucumb to another... (oh my doc said if I go anemic from tx I could get a blood tranfusion. I think I wont, as I dont need anything else)  I always thought they tested blood first, to make sure it did not come from a person whom had a blood disease...But then I found out my mother sold her plasma for VODKA ! as often as they would take it.  I have also heard of people with I.V. drug habbits selling their blood so they can get more dope. I guess the places that pay for plasma/blood. make alot of money! so they have no insentive to screen it.  people think if they give blood, they are being tested for blood diseases, but I dont think that is the case. I worked at a plant..Lots of people with some real bad habbits of the past or present.
         I am sorry you lost your little girl..I think she would be proud of your efforts.  May you win your battle...

[sbd5251]

I was doubting myself last night again.   But I read a daily devotional, and I read one that said there was one second between now and then.   Now on earth and then walking with God and we have three three things between the two---Faith, Hope and Love.  I have the faith that God has put me in this place and on this path.  I hope that I  can do it as He wants it done and I am sure he will correct me when I start going wrong.  And the love I have for God and Candace to do what I need to do.  I promised Candace and God,  that I would do everything I could to see that this never happened to another child.  

Thank you for your kind words and encouragement.

[sbd5251]

I have been greatly encouraged by all of you and thank you from the bottom of  my heart.  I am not going away as long as you are here cheering me on with my battle.

[meakea]

Nutpea, I posted earlier about a person that I know through another Hep C site that had sold plasma for YEARS along with her husband.  It was only about 5 years ago that she got a call back to the plasma center to a face to face meeting telling her that she tested positive for Hep C.  Subsequently, her Hepatologist told her that it was obvious to him (from testing) that she has had HCV for at least 25-30 years which coincides with her teenage drug years.  And then there's the story of your mother so it got me wondering about the testing procedures for plasma (which I would have thought would be the same as for donating blood).  I searched out the screening regs for plasma and came up with the following:

What type of medical screening and testing is done?
The U.S. and most countries in Western Europe require that all plasma donors submit to a pre-donation physical, including medical history questions, tests for transmissible viruses such as Hepatitis B and C and HIV, total plasma protein levels and hematocrit/hemoglobin levels. The plasma protein therapeutics industry’s International Quality Plasma Program (IQPP)-certification requires additional donor screening, donor education on high risk behavior and residency requirements.

So...there are regs in place but they are obviously only words on paper unless they are enforced by the people who are working with the plasma.  Since there's money involved with plasma, it makes me wonder.

[Magnum]

You should always be an analogous donor (give your own blood before surgery).
Unfortunately, Medicare does not pay for that anymore. So, if you want to give your own blood, it's $480 per pint! (at least here in Las Vegas). I don't know if a standard insurance pays for it or not.

At any rate, the last time I gave blood before this cut off by Medicare, I spoke to the lab tech and she said no blood is 100% virus free. There is a potential of HIV and HCV and other strange and creepy things....

Magnum

[kittyface]

I'm so sorry you lost your daughter due to the irresponsible and negligent practices by the agency charged with our safety.  I received HCV from a 1982 blood transfusion and wasn't diagnosed for 25 years.  I share your outrage and am still frequently pissed off at the government for my past and present health problems.   Not productive but can't help it.

I have seen minutes of meetings between the FDA and Red Cross in 1969 stating that 10% of recipients were contracting a hepatitis yet the FDA did not require Red Cross to implement screening tests (liver enzyme panels) because they were too expensive ($2.39) and would decrease the donor pool!  Yet shortly after this the federal National Institute of Health screened THEIR blood but not the public's.  Unbelievable!   As for today only God and the Red Cross know what's circulating in the blood supply.  And you can bet they're not telling us!  I met someone who contracted HCV from a surgery in 2002.  

The same scenario occurred in Canada and the citizens received an apology and several thousand dollars in compensation.  In America nobody is accountable.  I was unsuccessful in locating an attorney to sue the responsible parties.  Please PM me and I'll do what I can to support your efforts.  I admire you for tackling this.

Kittyface

[sbd5251]

I talked with my lawyer today and i have a letter that I am sending to my Congressional delegation because they have been no help for me.  He is willing to help any of you on here that he can.  If you have gotten hepatitis C in the past several years, he would like to know some of the details.  He will be glad to look at it and recommend a lawyer in your state. He will research the laws in your state to see if we can group all of you in one suit.  I believe that my congressional delegation will do nothing  The only way we are going to get them to make any changes is to hit the where it hurts----in the pocket.  I would be glad to post the letter that he and I wrote if anyone is interested.

[sbd5251]

I officially started my fight today.  I sent letters to all three of my Congressional Delegation.  I am going to see what happens with this and  if i dont  gt a response from them I am going to flood the newspapers in the country with letters.  Also I a going to  have petitions that I would like to send to some of you to get signatures on to present to them.  I need your help for that.  If anyone is interested, please let me know.  Thanks.

[blondie717]

I was wondering what happened to U, i had a glitch in my privilages. I feel anytime people are paid for their blood or plasma, it is bad...Lots of desperate people sell it for drugs or alcohol. the people who pay them get even more money for the product. and give desperate person a pittance for their possibly tainted, blood.. How many places do we go where we see people not doing their job? If its not given freely, than its not a gift of Love. Last night a person basically said, who would be in a study to find out of hep C could be passed during menstrual.  Only people I could think of is suasidal people..The same study could be done with the blood (cash cow) have 100 hep C positive persons sell it and see what they did (ofcourse yad have to hijack the crop to make sure it never got to the general population)

[sbd5251]

I kind of get down about this whole subject.  Seems like only a few people want me to stick with it.  They think I havent gotten over the death of Candace.  I havent and never will.  You never get over losing a child.  Hear a lot of negative comments about it.  But--then I get started all over again.  It is not right what the blood establishments are doing to Americans and getting away with it.  If youi would like to read the letter i wrote to my Congressional delegation, I will email it to any of you that wants it.  I am going to be a thorn in the side of the American Red Cross and anybody that will listen and some that dont want to listen until I get this "MESS" that is our blood supply cleaned up.  

[SusanJoyce]

I have been searching the internet to find out more information about the hospital's liability for contracting hepatitis C through blood transfusions. I had premature twins in 1985.  I objected to blood transfusions, so they petitioned the court for custody to transfuse twin baby A, they did not have legal authorization to transfuse twin baby B. I couldn't sleep one night, so my mother and I went to see the twins at 1:00 a.m. when I walked in they were transfusing twin baby B, he died two days later, I was told by the doctor that he died from a disease that was in the blood that shut down his kidneys.  The disease is found in elderly people and is on his death certificate. Twin baby A was transfused on a daily basis for five months.  It was hospital policy to transfuse a baby every time they took blood gases. At 24 my son went to donate blood for a free movie ticket, so he was compensated for his blood donation.  We then got a letter stating that he had Hepatitis C.  It's an amazing business that they can get a product for free and make such huge profits.  (However, I'm sure it costs something to process and store it which must be mimimal compared to the profits.)  My son went through interferon injections which after five months the build up of interferon in his system caused dillusions and hallucinations, so he was taken off interferon and admitted to a psycniatric hospital to stabilize him.  At the last test, there was no trace of the virus, however he is now uninsurable and keeps getting rejected by health insurance companies. I feel that the hospital should be held responsible for his medical care, for as long as he is rejected for heath insurance, and if he is finally accepted and can't afford it, they should still be responsible for his health care.  Even if the hospital did everything legally, and the blood was tested according to what was available at that time, the hospital should be held accountable for the results of the blood transfusions they administered.  I wrote a letter to the hospital informing them of this and requested that they take care of my son for this and they refused, even though they have all the resources. They allowed him to live this disease for 24 years.  They never mentioned that my son could get a blood born disease from transfusions, never mentioned that anyone who had blood transfusions should be tested yearly for blood born diseases, nothing.  When he was discharged I was told to go to an orthopedist and a pulmonologist.  Over the past 24 years, we've been back to that hospital and there is no flagging system, nothing at all, to notify patients who had blood transfusions to get tested for blood born diseases.  I believe it is a calculated risk on behalf of the hospital, similar to that of the insurance agencies.  How many people will they actually have to settle with versus how much profits they will utlimately make.  Furthermore, I keep getting rejected by attorneys to represent my son because there is a $100,000 cap and to them it's not worth the investment.  It's a business, all about money, and I know they have to be paid for their services, but to us, it's about making sure my son is medically taken care of.  I would like to sue this hospital for his medical care and can't find the government agency to at least file a complaint with.