Capitalists That I Don't Like
Friday night as my wife and I were lying in bed, we were watching 20/20 on television. Since John Stossel has taken on one of the anchor roles, this has become somewhat of a decent program to watch. One of the feature stories caught my attention.
A pharmaceutical company called Northfield has developed a blood substitute called Polyheme. This substitute is in trial right now. The purpose of the substitute, from what I understood, was for shortages of blood or to prevent medical transports, such as ambulances, from having to store real blood. When a patient arrives at a hospital, real blood can be transfused, and the Polyheme would be purged from the body.
If this product works, it would be a revolutionary medical breakthrough, undoubtedly.
Here comes the spoiler.
Northfield Labs, through approval of the FDA, has been authorized to test this product at 27 national hospitals across the country. The problem is, you might be a part of the testing and never know it, especially if you die from the side-effects that have been noted about Polyheme.
In order to opt out of the experiment, you must be wearing a blue bracelet that reads something like, "I choose to opt out of the Northfield Labs Polyheme experiment."
The way I always thought medical testing worked was that you consented to being a part of a test, signing waivers that you were aware of the risks, and then most likely being paid for your effort.
Not in this test. The FDA, a government organization, has approved a private business to TEST A DRUG ON CITIZENS WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT.
This is the type of capitalist I have a problem with. This company stands to gain a great deal by approval of Polyheme. Investors would stand to gain a great deal by the approval of Polyheme. This company used a government agency to force its product on citizens without their consent. Citizens are part of a medical experiment without their knowledge. Their lives could be in peril because of an experimental drug administered to them without them even knowing it.
If Northfield Labs tested this drug with consent of patients or their power-of-attorney, then I say fine. If Northfield Labs then makes a disgustingly large amount of money. Fine. They took the risk, invested the capital, they should reap the benefits.
But this is unconscionable. An company should compete for their subjects of experiments by gaining their consent and paying compensation for the efforts of the subjects. Instead, this company used the power of the FDA to make the public as a whole the subjects of their testing.
These are the kind of capitalists that I do not like. The kind of capitalist who uses regulation to get the upper hand in competetive advantage over their rivals. This is the true flaw in capitalistic societies; that government regulation is involved.
Below is a list of hospitals that this experiement is taking place. I suggest that you order the blue bracelet from Northfield Labs if you live in one of the areas. This is copied and pasted directly from the abcnew.com website.
To opt out of the study, contact Northfield Labs (http://www.northfieldlabs.com/contact.html) or a participating hospital and request a blue bracelet. If worn, you will be exempt from the trial.
California
UC San Diego Medical Center, San Diego, Calif.; No longer recruiting
Scripps Mercy, San Diego, Calif.; No longer recruiting
Colorado
Denver Health Medical Center, Denver, Colo.
Delaware
Christiana Hospital, Newark, Del.
Georgia
Medical Center of Central Georgia, Macon, Ga.
Illinois
Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Ill.
Indiana
Wishard Memorial Hospital, Indianapolis, Ind.
Methodist Hospital of Indiana, Indianapolis, Ind.
Kansas
University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan.
Kentucky
University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington, Ky.
Michigan
Detroit Receiving Hospital, Detroit, Mich.
Sinai Grace Hospital, Detroit, Mich.
Minnesota
The Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
New York
Albany Medical Center, Albany, N.Y.; Suspended
North Carolina
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.
Ohio
MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio; Suspended
University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton, Ohio
Pennsylvania
Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, Penn.; No longer recruiting
St. Luke's Regional Resource Trauma Center, Bethlehem, Penn.
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Penn.
Tennessee
University of Tennessee-Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.
Johnson City Medical Center, Johnson City, Tenn.; Suspended
Texas
Memorial-Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas; No longer recruiting
Memorial-Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas; No longer recruiting
University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas
Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam, Houston, Texas
Utah
University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah
Virginia
Sentara Norfolk Hospital, Norfolk, Va.; No longer recruiting
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, Richmond, Va.
Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, Va.; Suspended
West Virginia
West Virginia University/Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center, Morgantown, West Va.
(source: www.clinicaltrials.gov where it says "Verified by Northfield Laboratories June 2006) (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00076648?order=1)
A pharmaceutical company called Northfield has developed a blood substitute called Polyheme. This substitute is in trial right now. The purpose of the substitute, from what I understood, was for shortages of blood or to prevent medical transports, such as ambulances, from having to store real blood. When a patient arrives at a hospital, real blood can be transfused, and the Polyheme would be purged from the body.
If this product works, it would be a revolutionary medical breakthrough, undoubtedly.
Here comes the spoiler.
Northfield Labs, through approval of the FDA, has been authorized to test this product at 27 national hospitals across the country. The problem is, you might be a part of the testing and never know it, especially if you die from the side-effects that have been noted about Polyheme.
In order to opt out of the experiment, you must be wearing a blue bracelet that reads something like, "I choose to opt out of the Northfield Labs Polyheme experiment."
The way I always thought medical testing worked was that you consented to being a part of a test, signing waivers that you were aware of the risks, and then most likely being paid for your effort.
Not in this test. The FDA, a government organization, has approved a private business to TEST A DRUG ON CITIZENS WITHOUT THEIR CONSENT.
This is the type of capitalist I have a problem with. This company stands to gain a great deal by approval of Polyheme. Investors would stand to gain a great deal by the approval of Polyheme. This company used a government agency to force its product on citizens without their consent. Citizens are part of a medical experiment without their knowledge. Their lives could be in peril because of an experimental drug administered to them without them even knowing it.
If Northfield Labs tested this drug with consent of patients or their power-of-attorney, then I say fine. If Northfield Labs then makes a disgustingly large amount of money. Fine. They took the risk, invested the capital, they should reap the benefits.
But this is unconscionable. An company should compete for their subjects of experiments by gaining their consent and paying compensation for the efforts of the subjects. Instead, this company used the power of the FDA to make the public as a whole the subjects of their testing.
These are the kind of capitalists that I do not like. The kind of capitalist who uses regulation to get the upper hand in competetive advantage over their rivals. This is the true flaw in capitalistic societies; that government regulation is involved.
Below is a list of hospitals that this experiement is taking place. I suggest that you order the blue bracelet from Northfield Labs if you live in one of the areas. This is copied and pasted directly from the abcnew.com website.
To opt out of the study, contact Northfield Labs (http://www.northfieldlabs.com/contact.html) or a participating hospital and request a blue bracelet. If worn, you will be exempt from the trial.
California
UC San Diego Medical Center, San Diego, Calif.; No longer recruiting
Scripps Mercy, San Diego, Calif.; No longer recruiting
Colorado
Denver Health Medical Center, Denver, Colo.
Delaware
Christiana Hospital, Newark, Del.
Georgia
Medical Center of Central Georgia, Macon, Ga.
Illinois
Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Ill.
Indiana
Wishard Memorial Hospital, Indianapolis, Ind.
Methodist Hospital of Indiana, Indianapolis, Ind.
Kansas
University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, Kan.
Kentucky
University of Kentucky Medical Center, Lexington, Ky.
Michigan
Detroit Receiving Hospital, Detroit, Mich.
Sinai Grace Hospital, Detroit, Mich.
Minnesota
The Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
New York
Albany Medical Center, Albany, N.Y.; Suspended
North Carolina
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C.
Ohio
MetroHealth Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio; Suspended
University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
Miami Valley Hospital, Dayton, Ohio
Pennsylvania
Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, Penn.; No longer recruiting
St. Luke's Regional Resource Trauma Center, Bethlehem, Penn.
Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Penn.
Tennessee
University of Tennessee-Memphis, Memphis, Tenn.
Johnson City Medical Center, Johnson City, Tenn.; Suspended
Texas
Memorial-Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas; No longer recruiting
Memorial-Hermann Hospital, Houston, Texas; No longer recruiting
University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas
Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam, Houston, Texas
Utah
University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
LDS Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah
Virginia
Sentara Norfolk Hospital, Norfolk, Va.; No longer recruiting
Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, Richmond, Va.
Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, Va.; Suspended
West Virginia
West Virginia University/Jon Michael Moore Trauma Center, Morgantown, West Va.
(source: www.clinicaltrials.gov where it says "Verified by Northfield Laboratories June 2006) (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct/show/NCT00076648?order=1)
posted by Badbeans | 3:51 PM
6 Comments:
I saw this too.
I was outraged by what 20/20 uncovered. I couldn't believe that this kind of 'test' could be legal in any part of our country without the consent of the person involved in the test. The doctor that they interviewed that was behind this testing was so smug and unconcerned about the people this blood substitute was going into, it gave me cold chills.
People could get out of the test by wearing the bracelet, but no one even knew they had to wear a bracelet. The doctor said it was well known in the areas that the testing was being done that the people had to wear bracelets to opt out of the experiment. But lo and behold, no one knew in dozens and dozens of street interviews 20/20 did that there was any kind of experiment going on.
We have lost control boy's, we have lost control.
Thanks for publishing the list Beans.
What if I don't wanna go around wearing a damned blue bracelet all day every day just in case I might be in the unlikely situation where I would need a blood transfusion??
What about visitors to their areas? This makes me furious! I smell something fishy. Somebody at the FDA got something from this. This should be handled IMMEDIATELY at the Congressional level.
Brings to mind the Tuskogee Experiment.
I'm impressed with your site, very nice graphics!
»
This site is one of the best I have ever seen, wish I had one like this.
»
This product has kept people alive after they had bled out. In a study of jehova witness patients who refuse blood, some of the patients lost all their own blood and were kept alive by infusing as much as 20 units of polyheme.
Try that with salt water.
The product has been proven to be safe.
The outrage over the consent issue is media hype. It sells papers.
How about aspirin, penicillin. Those products would never have made it without first a clinical trial.
Let's face it if you are in bad medical shape after a gun shot, or stabbing, auto accident, explosion and you are losing blood rapidly, you don't have much time. The longer you go without blood the more bad stuff that happens. Multiple organ failure is the biggest problem. Your organs need oxygen to function.
Polyheme is a polymerized solution of blood that has expired( 42 days). It carries oxygen and is its biggest advantage over the standard of care.
46 deaths in the polyheme side
36 deaths in the standard of care side.
That is the headline that the media has served up to the public.
The headline number does not take into consideration the severity of injury. Would the person have died regardless of whether they were given polyheme, salt water or real blood?
Some of the patients had no blood pressure at the scene of the injury, but they were given polyheme in an attempt to save the patient.
A note about Brian Ross the famous investigative reporter. He treated this interview like it was an abortion in the back alley. The interview was taken in a dark room with a white light in the middle of the room. He didn't let the FDA rep get a word in edge wise.
When this gets approved by the FDA ,my challenge to Mr Ross would be to conduct an honest journalistic effort in the future and eat some crow,instead of the sensationalistic effort
I thought he worked for the National Enquirer
kozon polyheme
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