Customer Reviews

Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

From to animal-human blood transfusions to the mobilizations of donated blood for Normandy to the battle for blood-as-commodity, this riveting, epic history of medicine and commerce promises to keep you reading all day and night. You will gain a new respect for the Red Cross and for modern medicine, and you will most likely rush out to donate blood after cringing through the pages describing the problems in the Blood Services Complex. Incredibly well-researched, fascinating and enlightening.

I borrowed this book from the library to help me with a lengthy article that I am writing on the history of blood banking. If I wasn't doing in-depth research, like combing through medical journals and scientific papers, I would have given this book 5 stars. However, Starr makes many omissions and skips vital facts, and I fail to understand why. For example, he credits Richard Lewisohn with discovering the use of sodium citrate, to keep blood from coagulating. However, nowhere does he mention that Lewisohn was not the first to use it in a successful transfusion. Two doctors published results right before he did, and another one gave a talk to the Nationl Acaademy of Sciences a month before Lewisohn published his results. Lewisohn is credited with finding the perfect formulation, and that is where credit is due. But Starr makes it seem that Lewisohn was the only one doing this research.

He completely leaves out the work of Rous and Turner, who first used glucose to expand the life of red blood cells--a necessity in blood banking. He also completely omitted WW I--amazing! That's when the very first blood depot was set up and stored blood was used for the first time.

I've found that he has embellished some personalities and downplayed others. He made it sound like no one was doing blood transfusions until Carrel's fateful night when he saved the baby, but in fact, they were being performed.

Anyway, this is a good book and I am surprised to find these glaring flaws in it. I found it useful as a background for my research, but I don't understand why he chose to write it this way.

The author takes an incredible journey through the history of blood. You will be amazed at how key experiments throughout the years have forever changed out feelings towards the tissue we call blood. You will root "for the good guys" as they pioneer medical research! But then you will cry when you see what modern business do once they got a hold of blood as a "product." You will see how greed,jealosy, and denial killed thousands and ruined the lives of many others. All because companies and some doctors would not listen to reason. Truly heartbreaking indeed.

The author composes a beautiful symphony of history which is very easy to read and very difficult to put down. This book has certainly changed the way I think about business and medicine.

Who knew that a book about transfusions and blood in medical history would turn out to be such a fascinating read? Starr works from the 17th century (with occasional visits to even earlier times) forward to the current environment of blood as monetary commodity.

Scintillating, thought-provoking, disturbing, and even amusing, the storytelling does justice to the story. Brilliant people discovered amazing things about this liquid that keeps us alive, and Starr encapsulates the many discoveries extremely well.

If you enjoy social history writing at all, you will likely appreciate BLOOD: AN EPIC HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND COMMERCE.

I originally took this book out of my local library to do a research project for my final exam in History. Since the culmination of my research, I have rented this book three more times in to read it for my own enjoyment. The topic of blood is purely fascinating. Starr has brilliantly written a book that informs the reader of important issues, as well as being entertaining and thought provoking. The reader gets a profound understanding of the importance of blood that spans from the 17th century, though World Wars, and through current problems with AIDS in the world's blood supply. I have never read a nonfiction book that has kept my attention as acutely as this one. This book is truly one that you'll want to keep.

Once I started this book, I couldn't put it down. The author tells the story of blood in a lively, well-researched manner. His descriptions are riveting, sometimes chilling, but always informative and exciting. His stories about the players in this industry are so compelling that you think you know them firsthand. The latter parts of the book, about AIDs and the safety of the world's blood suppy are disturbing yet teach us important lessons about public health. This book is destined to become a classic.

This is a very thorough, and thoroughly interesting, book about blood. It might be hard to imagine that one substance could be the subject of a facsinating history, but it is just that. This book is almost like a series of stories, one building upon the other, and it has ignited my interest in medical history generally. I wholeheartedly recommend.