Problems with the Red Cross
red cross corruption, red cross mismanagement, red cross dna, red cross blood supply
Australian Red Cross 'sorry' over tainted blood
Jun 5/04 - The Age - The Australian Red Cross Blood Service has apologised for the first time to thousands of victims who received blood transfusions contaminated with hepatitis C during the 1980s. But it has not accepted liability for the tragedy. In a private mediation session in the NSW Parliament last week, national blood products manager Brenton Wylie said the Red Cross recognised that some blood transfusion recipients contracted hepatitis C.
"This is a terrible fact, and we are sorry that this occurred," he said. "We are sorry that for some of those recipients contracting hepatitis C, this has often resulted in debilitating symptoms of the disease." But Dr Wylie said the Red Cross made decisions based on the best available scientific knowledge at the time and, "we do not accept liability". The apology was repeated in a letter this week to the Independent Blood Council, which represents more than 700 victims of tainted blood. The Red Cross has previously expressed sympathy to victims, but has not apologised until now. Advertisement Advertisement Independent Blood Council president Charles MacKenzie urged the Red Cross to make a "real sorry" by offering compensation or launching an appeal to raise money for the victims. He said the Red Cross should be criminally charged, as the Canadian Red Cross was a few years ago. The Canadian Red Cross was ordered to pay more than $1 billion in compensation.
Red Cross apologises for hepatitis in blood
Jun 04 - SMH - The Australian Red Cross Blood Service has apologised for the first time to victims of tainted blood, saying it is "very sorry" for what happened.
In a public turnaround, the organisation said hepatitis C infections via blood transfusions were "a terrible fact" but it would work to make things better.
The development follows almost three years of campaigning by victims, who claim up to 20,000 people may be infected by the potentially deadly virus. They allege it has been one of Australia's worst medical disasters.
It also follows two public inquiries prompted by revelations in the Herald about problems in the blood supply. The latest inquiry, in the Senate, is due to report later this month.
Full Story Here: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/04/1086203627878.html?oneclick=true
Download the Evidence of Red Cross mismanagement (PDF) (7 Files/ Your Choice) at:
http://www.taintedbloodnetwork.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=1
Earmarking of Red Cross donations rejected
(i.e. using disaster for fundraising but not forwarding funds to the disaster affected area)
October 28, 2003
Efforts by local Red Cross officials to present a new face for fund-raising and disaster support were stymied yesterday when national officials
rejected a plan to earmark donations solely for victims of the wildfires charring many areas of San Diego County.
Chief executive Veronica "Ronne" Froman had hoped to heighten accountability over disaster donations since the local Red Cross board and former CEO were fired last year amid scandals involving the administration of donations and government contracts.
The day after the San Diego Red Cross assured San Diegans that fire relief donations could go to a separate account to aid only the victims of the "October Fires,"
local officials backed away from that pledge under pressure from the national American Red
Cross.
Instead, chapter officials are asking donors to contribute to the local disaster relief fund, which finances relief operations for all disasters in San Diego and Imperial counties.
Local chapter officials said they erred Sunday when they established a separate account for the fire. That action
violated national board policies, [!!!] they said.
County Supervisor Dianne Jacob called the national officials' action unacceptable and threatened to establish a local fund.
Froman has promised that the chapter will begin providing weekly updates to the public on how donations were helping victims.
Last night, chapter officials said they had received $300,000 in donations and were processing more.
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Not Long Ago: 2003 - Red Cross not complying with safety Requirements concerning Blood Supply (Adverse Determination Letter against Red Cross issed by U.S. Federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Same Issues in 2004
February 6, 2004
ADVERSE DETERMINATION LETTER
issued by HHS against Red Cross - 2004
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
P01-22
December 13, 2001
FDA ASKS FEDERAL COURT TO HOLD AMERICAN
RED
CROSS IN CONTEMPT OF 1993 CONSENT DECREE AND IMPOSE PROSPECTIVE FINES FOR VIOLATIONS
The Food and Drug Administration today asked a Federal court to hold American Red Cross (ARC) in contempt of a 1993
consent decree covering ARC's blood program. FDA also asked the court for authority to levy prospective fines against ARC for future violations.
ARC (American Red Cross) supplies
approximately 45 percent of the nation's blood supply.
FDA's actions followed inspections of ARC facilities over the last 16 years that have shown continuing ARC violations. These inspections include one from February through April 2000 of ARC's national headquarters, which provides quality assurance oversight for all of ARC's regional and laboratory facilities, and an inspection of ARC's Salt Lake City facility from March through May, 2001. Despite ARC's agreement to make substantial improvements, as promised in a consent decree signed in May, 1993, these inspections revealed persistent and serious violations of blood safety rules.
"FDA is acting today to ensure that the American Red Cross takes much more seriously its role as guardian of the safety of the nation's blood supply, which is essential to the public health," said Bernard A.
Schwetz, DVM, Ph.D., FDA's Acting Principal Deputy Commissioner. "Unfortunately to date ARC has exhibited a corporate culture that has been willing to tolerate an unacceptably low level of quality assurance and a lack of concern for the public it is supposed to serve. In our view, these prospective penalties are necessary to ensure that ARC is held financially accountable for each unit of blood it fails to manage properly."
FDA laws and regulations establish overlapping safeguards designed to protect the blood supply. Because there is always some degree of risk, however small, in receiving blood products, each individual safeguard is considered critical to minimizing that risk. Although the failure of an individual safeguard, such as improper
recordkeeping, does not automatically translate into the release of unsafe products, it may increase the potential risk. ARC's violations of the consent decree and blood safety regulations have decreased the margin of safety.
The need for strengthening ARC's motivation for compliance was particularly evident from the findings of FDA's sixth and most recent inspection of ARC's national headquarters in February-April 2000. This inspection revealed violative conduct, including the following:
* incorrect labeling and release of blood potentially contaminated with cytomegalovirus;
* lack of adequate quarantine and inventory controls;
* inadequate donor registration controls and failure to maintain accurate and current lists of deferred donors; and
* erroneous, premature release of computerized "holds" on blood donations.
FDA's March-May 2001 inspection of the Salt Lake City facility further demonstrated that ARC has not corrected these violations. Numerous violations were observed relating to quality assurance and ARC's continuing failure to monitor and exercise effective control over its regions. For example, possibly unsuitable donors were not deferred appropriately and quality assurance personnel did not investigate these deviations or attempt to correct them.
Dr. Schwetz emphasized that, as FDA works to improve blood safety, patients requiring blood transfusions should not hesitate to receive blood. "The risk of not receiving a needed transfusion far outweighs the risk of receiving blood," he said. ìI also want to encourage Americans to continue to donate blood. Giving blood is a safe and unselfish act. The health of millions depends on it," he added.
FDA's legal action consisted of a motion asking a federal court to issue an order requiring ARC to show cause why it should not be held in contempt of a 1993 consent decree and to impose on ARC prospective fines to encourage future compliance. The motion and supporting documents were filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
# # # #
Source:
FDA/HHS
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Red Cross may have released unsafe blood
WASHINGTON (AP) — 12/20/2002 - The American Red Cross may have released tainted blood to hospitals, the government said Friday, reporting more than 200 violations of federal blood safety rules in its battle to get the Red Cross to improve the quality of its blood operation.
The Food and Drug Administration said it was investigating further to determine whether patients received bad blood.
"The blood supply is not as safe as it should be," said FDA Commissioner Mark McClellan. "I am troubled by apparent lapses in blood safety."
The Red Cross, which provides 45% of the nation's blood supply, said it is working hard to improve safety.
A year ago, the FDA went to court seeking contempt charges for 10 years of Red Cross safety violations. Friday's preliminary report on safety at the Red Cross biomedical headquarters suggests the problems have not been fixed, McClellan said, suggesting they point to "a culture willing to accept noncompliance."
Specifically, the FDA alleges that some Red Cross employees were instructed to skip required safety steps, and others altered records, to allow release of blood that had failed safety testing.
In addition, the Red Cross failed to screen out some people who were not supposed to give blood, the FDA said.
Red Cross ready to pay bad-blood victims
Offer likely means lengthy legal fight that may kill agency
By Tim Harper Toronto Star Ottawa Bureau OTTAWA - (apr 99) The Canadian Red Cross will act alone to compensate tainted-blood victims left out of a national offer.
But the move seems certain to ensure a protracted legal battle between victims and the charitable agency.
The offer of about $60 million is expected Monday when the Red Cross files a restructuring plan in court, but it will effectively kill any hopes the victims had of a national $1.1 billion offer being extended to include them.
Victims infected with hepatitis C between 1986 and 1990 had been holding out hope that Red Cross negotiators, led by former Ontario premier Bob Rae, would be successful in moving Ottawa and the provinces to extend the package, removing the legal threat against the agency.
The Red Cross has said it would go bankrupt if found liable for its share in $3.8 billion in lawsuits naming it, Ottawa and the province as defendants.
"US Doctor Appears in Canadian Court on Charges Linked to Tainted
Blood"
Associated Press (12.11.02)
A US doctor appeared in Canadian court, charged for his
alleged role in a tainted blood supply that sickened thousands in
the 1970s and 1980s. Dr. Michael Rodell, 70, spoke his name but
said nothing more. He is charged with three counts of criminal
negligence causing bodily harm, which carries a maximum 10-year
prison sentence, and one count of common nuisance, punishable by
up to two years in prison.
The Pennsylvania doctor was one of four charged last month
in connection with the tainted blood. Rodell's former company,
the US blood products firm Armour Pharmaceutical Co., was also
charged. Rodell was vice president of scientific and regulatory
affairs at the company, which supplied blood products to the
Canadian Red Cross.
About 1,200 people contracted HIV and thousands more
developed hepatitis C after transfusions of tainted blood and
blood products. Some of the blood allegedly came from US prison
inmates.
No figures exist on the actual number of deaths, but
organizations involved say there were many. The Canadian Red
Cross started screening blood donors for HIV in 1985, and for
hepatitis C in 1990.
Canadian doctors John Furesz, Wark Boucher, and Roger
Perrault also face charges. Perrault is the former head of blood
transfusion at the Canadian Red Cross. (Source)
1994 - FDA WARNS RED CROSS IN BOISE, IDAHO, OF INTENTION TO REVOKE BLOOD LICENSES
Nov 3/94 - FDA - The Food and Drug Administration is receiving inquiries about
reports that the American Red Cross (ARC) regional blood centers in
Syracuse, NY, and Lansing, Mich., are recalling blood products
collected between May 1993 and May 1994 because of testing errors.
Pfiesteria and Related Harmful Blooms
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Microsoft XP Spying on You
Microsoft has programmed Windows XP to contact other computers and transfer information from the user's computer to the other computers:
a) If you have only three DVDs that your children watch sometimes on your home machine that is always connected to the Internet (through a broadband connection), you may not care that Microsoft knows when they watch them. If you seldom use the Windows XP help facility, you may not care that Microsoft is able to know the level of expertise of the people who use your computer.
However, if you are using Windows XP in a large corporation or a government, the fact that another organization believes that it can gather data from you may be completely unacceptable.
This article is support for your own investigation.
The Microsoft article tells how to disable the hidden downloading. However, the disabling is very time-consuming. Also, Microsoft has a history of using defect fixes and security fixes to change the operating system settings. This means that all the settings would need to be checked after every defect fix or security vulnerability fix.
Source: http://www.hevanet.com/peace/microsoft.htm
Article in Spanish http://www.hevanet.com/peace/microsoft-es.htm
Zone Alarm - Firewall Protection - Free version at:
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/company/products/znalm/freeDownload.jsp
Webroot Spysweeper (look for Try It - Spy Sweeper)
Popup Blocker (Panicware) (look for the Free Version)
Spybot Search & Destroy (better for older systems)
Ancestor's DNA code reconstructed