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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
epic yet concise, July 30, 2002
This review is from: Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce (Paperback)
Although I defer to Mr.Haschka's expertise in the field of blood, I must take issue with his snippy comment about Mr.Starr's affinity for bad news. I found Blood to be well-balanced-- he labors mightily to present good news and noble accomplishments alongside the tales of negligence, ignorance, and good old-fashioned greed. Yes, he does report on the tainted blood in great depth but let's face it-- mistakes advance science as much as, or even more than, successes, and should be accorded the appropriate amount of space. As far as repetition is concerned, I admit that I haven't read Mr.Shilts' tome, but Blood is perfect for those of us who are interested in the HIV crisis in the larger context of the industry as a whole, and in light of earlier discoveries. The book lost me a bit in its lengthy discussion of the business complex, but the information is important in order to understand how the impact of new discoveries (and mistakes) are felt worldwide. The history of blood is nothing less than riveting, how mysticism and individual hubris has given way to science-- and how they have simultaneously coexisted and been at loggerheads ever since. A formidable subject, nicely covered in a single volume.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cookies, juice and money, April 22, 2003
By A Customer
This book makes the history of medicine, especially blood, interesting, and accessible to anyone. It also exposes the blood industry, GOOD and BAD, with names and dates of the people who moved it along: the medics in World Wars who risked their lives, the brilliant and tempermental researchers, and the greedy. Starr gives you well-documented facts and lets the reader decide, as a good writer should, who is the bad guy. This book doesn't tug as much at your heartstrings as Bad Blood: Crisis in the American Red Cross by Judith Reitman, but that's by far an advantage. She would have you believe that just because people died (of AIDS, and Hepatitis), there must be someone in the blood industry at fault. There certainly is some fault to go around, but this book helps you decide who and why there is fault, and tells both sides of the story without leaving Reitman's huge empty gaps in the evidence.
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13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Admirable, Informative Review of A Vital Industry, April 5, 2000
This review is from: Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce (Paperback)
I've worked in the blood industry for almost 30 years, in the front trenches (hospital blood banks/transfusion services) and in the rear support areas (community blood centers, research institutions, and pharmaceutical/medical device manufacturers) in technical, sales, marketing and production management positions. For me, Starr's admirable volume works best during the first half, when the historical evolution of blood and blood product therapy from the 17th century up to the end of World War II is described. After that, it becomes repetitive of the excellent work previously authored by Randy Shilts, "And the Band Played On". The hepatitis and AIDS crises of the late 20th century have certainly revealed the various international and national elements of the blood industry to be conservative, cantankerous, shortsighted, jingoistic, sometimes lacking in social conscience, occasionally unethical, often self-serving to the point of greed, and with leaders of monumental egos. Sounds like any other human group endeavor to me. What else is new? Maybe an industry that provides wire clothes hangers might be more idealistic, but I doubt it. The bulk of the later chapters is "bad news". But then, to the author, who is a former newspaper reporter, the only news worth telling would naturally be bad news. In any case, Starr has clearly done a mountain of research. I would highly recommend this book to anyone outside of the blood industry who wishes to understand the broad mechanics of collecting, preserving and distributing blood and blood products. I would also recommend it to a person such as myself, immersed in the day-to-day technology of getting blood to the patient, who has never been exposed to the history of the art. Personally, I don't view the book as a "thriller", though it has been so described by other reviewers. It's a solid, informative description of an industry in constant change. Some might say turmoil. As an example of the latter (not mentioned by Starr), many agencies concerned with the blood supply are adopting a stance promoting "universal leukoreduction", i.e. the practice of depleting cellular blood products (both Red Blood Cells and Platelets) of white cells, or leukocytes. Contaminating leukocytes are known to cause immune suppression, CMV virus transmission, and refractoriness to platelet transfusions. This universal leukoreduction is being promoted by national professional and regulatory agencies (which got burned by the AIDS scandal) for political reasons, by the blood filter vendors for obviously commercial reasons, and more or less by practicing physicians in the field. There is the counter view that universal leukoreduction will cost the patient-consumer, or his insurance company, too much, especially since it's not been proven that all patient populations requiring transfusion need leukoreduced blood. Thus the current brouhaha, yet to be resolved to everyone's satisfaction. Maybe Starr can write a second epilog.
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