168 lines
7.4 KiB
Plaintext
168 lines
7.4 KiB
Plaintext
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Conspiracy Nation -- Vol. 1 Num. 95
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======================================
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("Quid coniuratio est?")
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AIDS: What the Government Isn't Telling You
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by Lorraine Day, M.D.
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(Part 3)
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As previously noted, HIV infection may occur at least 35 months
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before antibodies can be detected. This means that, since a test
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for antibodies is used to determine whether donated blood is
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accepted or not by the blood banks, someone with an early stage
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HIV infection, who therefore would pass the blood screening tests
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because antibodies do not show up immediately, can easily donate
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blood. This means that our blood supply is *still* infected,
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though to what extent is not known.
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Not to say that "blood bankers" are all that picky about blood
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donors anyway. Dr. Day includes the following passage, written by
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an anonymous blood banker:
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The story has been "community spirit" for the good of the
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community -- with no self-gain by those employed by the
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blood bank.
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In actuality, no blood bank in the United States has ever
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gone bankrupt. They have all been profitable. They do not
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distribute their profits to the shareholders, (i.e. the
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public) but they certainly pay themselves handsome salaries
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with significant "perks."
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The only concern the fresh blood provider has is this: "How
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can I get enough donors?" There is no trouble getting enough
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customers -- i.e., every captive hospital in his territory
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is a customer. While self-limiting in the sense that there
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are a finite number of hospitals and a finite number of
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patients which may use a finite amount of blood, any
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business can operate profitably in a "known market" --
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particularly if monopolizing 100% of that market.
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The limited source of donors, however, is a different
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matter. The fresh blood sector uses one basic recruiting
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method which I refer to as the "guilt trip." There was a
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time when other motivations were used -- that is, reduction
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in the hospital bill, free lunches, free dinners, grocery
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certificates, cash, etc. This is not so much done anymore.
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One inducement other than the "laying on of guilt" is still
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used today, although reduced somewhat by the currently
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strained economics {1} of our society. Many unions include
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in their contracts with employers the stipulation that if a
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union member donates blood to the local blood provider, that
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employee gets half a day (or a full day) off of work with
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pay. This is particularly prevalent with government
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employees. Some inducement to donate may be pure pressure
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and competitiveness -- that is, between groups, departments,
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etc.
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Nevertheless, the basic message is the implication: "You are
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a terrible person if you don't help your fellow man who's
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going to die unless he gets your blood."
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As expected, it is increasingly difficult for the fresh
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blood sector to recruit donors. As a result, blood banks do
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not want to reject donors for "minor" reasons -- for
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example, mild infection, fast pulse, swollen lymph nodes,
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etc.
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While every attempt is made to see that a donor qualifies
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within the limits set by law, no blood banks attempt to
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apply higher standards than those required by law. Safer
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blood products at the expense of losing donors is resisted
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and justified on the grounds that a shortage of blood is
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more dangerous than the "long odds" of acquiring a blood-
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borne infection.
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Donors are treated with kid gloves so as not to offend them.
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The blood bankers have resisted performing physical
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examinations which can be time-consuming or may reject and
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embarrass donors. The only driving force behind a blood
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bank's operation is " -- we do not want to lose donors."
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This economic factor is particularly important in
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understanding the basis of the lack of action of the fresh
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blood sector in 1983-85 and their almost criminally late
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recognition of the fact that AIDS can be transmitted by
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blood.
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Dr. Day charges that although the blood banks knew early on that
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AIDS *could* be transmitted via the blood, they still did not
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screen out homosexuals at risk for AIDS for the simple reason
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that this would have cost them money to recruit new donors.
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In 1987, it came to light that one of the blood banks had known
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for 2 years that their previous calculations regarding the risk
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of AIDS transmission from blood transfusion was not, as they had
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been saying, between 1 in 100,000 and 1 in 250,000, but *1 in
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100*. For hemophiliacs needing more frequent transfusions, the
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chances were even worse. According to the *San Francisco
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Examiner*, "fear of AIDS hysteria" was why the secret was kept
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for so long.
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"While blood bankers and health officials sat on precedent and
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protocol so as not to 'panic the public,' anyone infected through
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a transfusion could have transmitted the virus."
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Of course, no one who *knew* they were infected with HIV would
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still go ahead and donate blood, right? Wrong. Consider the
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following from the *Dallas Gay News*, May 20, 1983:
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There has come the idea that if research money (for AIDS) is
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not forthcoming at a certain level by a certain date, all
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gay males should give blood... Whatever action is required
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to get national attention is valid. If that includes blood
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terrorism, so be it.
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Even today, blood banks do not test for the AIDS virus. "There is
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no routinely available blood test that targets the virus
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directly." Instead, tests are done for the antibodies to the
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virus. Yet, as already mentioned, it can take up to 35 months
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*after infection has occurred* before the antibodies appear.
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And consider this: We also have to import much of our blood
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supply from places such as Mexico, which has even less stringent
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testing of its blood supply than we do.
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Dr. Day ends this chapter by offering a quote from one C. S.
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Lewis:
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The greatest evil is not done in those sordid dens of crime
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that Dickens loved to paint... it is conceived and moved,
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seconded, carried and minuted in clean, carpeted, warmed and
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well-lighted offices by quiet men with white collars and cut
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fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to
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raise their voices.
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--------------------------<< Notes >>----------------------------
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{1} "...the currently strained economics of our society."
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Currently strained economics? Not to worry, according to
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Clinton's secretary of labor, professor Robert Reich, formerly of
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Harvard University. Why all we need to do, according to the
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learned professor, is provide more job training! We already have
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Rutgers graduates finding no better employment than tending bar,
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so what can Reich be thinking of? What should we train people to
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be? Harvard professors, so that they, in turn, can produce more
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Harvard professors?!
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Aperi os tuum muto, et causis omnium filiorum qui pertranseunt.
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Aperi os tuum, decerne quod justum est, et judica inopem et
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pauperem. -- Liber Proverbiorum XXXI: 8-9
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