Plateletpheresis is a process in which platelets are removed from the donor's blood, and then the rest of the blood is returned to the donor. The process involves removing plasma from blood taken from a patient, mixing the cell parts of the plasma, and putting this mixture back into the patient. It is used to treat some diseases. The platelets are tested for contaminants and diseases such as HIV and hepatitis C and then returned to the hospital for use. The turnaround time for platelets at most hospitals is 48 hours. Under Food and Drug Administration guidelines, platelets must be used within five days. With a general turnaround time of 48 hours, that leaves three days for the platelets to be fresh enough for use. Platelets help blood clot and are vital for patients suffering from such diseases as thrombocytopenia, caused by a problem in the bone marrow. Certain chemotherapies can also cause bone marrow to be suppressed, as can leukemia.
Should wavering hospitals capitulate when patients demand directed donations? Not necessarily. A recently settled court case provides a cautionary tale for the 1990s. On Aug. 29, 1992, after three weeks of testimony in New York State Supreme Court, Brooklyn, a man who had developed AIDS after receiving blood transfusions for emergency surgery in 1986 was granted approximately $200,000 from the hospital and $100,000 from the surgeon. The patient--Gregory Scarpa, reputedly a top-ranking member of the Columbo crime family--had refused blood from the hospital blood bank, insisting on donations from friends, relatives, and associates. One of those associates, a weight lifter now said to have injected steroids, later died of AIDS.
Defense lawyers say Scarpa was told that in an emergency, directed donations cannot always be screened.....
