Medical Murder: The Hemophilia Holocaust by Mike Dibble
Paul Vess
facts and a "must read" by members of the hemophilia community. Mike has
compiled a huge assortment of facts, easily available for individuals who need
this data in their quest for justice. Thanks MIke...keep up the good work. PV
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Mike Dibble
P.O.Box 884
Placitas, N.M. 87043
mdi...@nmia.com
(505) 867-9650
Dear reader
"Hemophilia Holocaust" was completed 4/12/95. On 5/2/95 I was informed that I
had recently been infused with medicine contaminated with a fatal disease not
mentioned in the book. This is the fourth fatal disease I have been infused with
from Factor VIII concentrate, used for the treatment of hemophiliac bleeding. I
have never experienced a life-threatening bleed, and have used pooled factor
concentrate on the advice of hemophilia center doctors to reduce damage to my
joints.
Prior to 1975, when I had a serious joint bleed, my doctor administered
cryoprecipitate, a blood product made from a small number, typically 5, of
volunteer donors. Cryo was always effective for me but it required my doctor to
administer it, and it made no profits for the blood industry. To the best of my
knowlege, properly manufactured cryo has never been associated with the
transmittal of any disease.
In 1975, I was informed that I would be using a new "miracle" product to control
bleeding. This was called concentrated Factor VIII, and was made available only
through govt. funded hemophilia treatment centers. Factor VIII was made by
pooling large quantities of blood. Up to 100,000 units from paid donors went
into a single vat, that was then fractionated and divided into individual doses.
If any unit was contaminated with a virus, the entire batch would be
contaminated. My family doctor told me that he thought the product was
dangerous, but that the hemophilia center doctors were specialists, and should
be trusted.
The treatment centers called Factor concentrate a miracle cure because patients
could be trained to administer it themselves, whereas cryo required a doctor to
administer. I never developed the talent for infusing myself intraveinously, so
to this day I require a medical professional to administer treatment. Cryo and
concentrate are equally effective.
In the late l970's, I developed hepatitis B, as did virtually everyone who used
concentrate. Records show that researchers knew that thousands of hemophiliacs
would eventually die as a result of hepatitis. The first I knew about this was
when the treatment center informed me that I had developed hepatitis B. I was
told not to worry. Nobody mentioned that hepatitis B is frequently fatal. Nobody
mentioned that hepatitis B could be transmitted sexually.
In 1983, I was living in Houston, and was making a good living selling
advertising by telephone. I read something in a newspaper about AIDS and
hemophilia. I asked the treatment center about it and was told not to worry, the
chance of getting AIDS was less than one in a milion.
In 1985, I tested positive for HIV. I was told not to worry, that exposure
didn't mean I would develop AIDS. I also recall being told that if I brought
suit against the manufacturers, they would be forced to stop making anything to
stop bleeding, and I, personally, would be responsible for the death of many
children.
By 1990, I had developed full-blown AIDS and was unable to work. Stress was
causing a rapid decline in my health so I bought a camper and moved to the
mountains of New Mexico. The stress-free lifestyle, mountain air, and herbs
stopped the decline in health, and by Sept. 1994, I felt healthier than I had in
years. My blood work showed that I had picked up hepatitis C from concentrate,
and, although this is frequently fatal, I had no symptoms.
On Sept 12, 1994 the IOM held public testimonies in Washington, and I spent
three days at the hotel Iwo Jima with other memers of the "Hiv/hemophilia
community." I had never been a part of this community before, and had not met
any of the families affected by hemophilia and AIDS.
It was in DC that I first met some of the mothers and children affected by the
blood industry. I had coffee with two women who had hemophiliac children. Both
of them had trusted their doctors and injected poison into their own babies. One
of them no longer had a son, the other had a 14 year old with her, a really nice
kid. although he looked healthy, his mother told me he had almost died a few
months earlier, and he had a current T-4 count of one. I found out that his
family had been having difficult financial times and had recently been evicted.
Since then, I have learned that a great many families dealing with hemophilia
and AIDS have lost their homes. Some by eviction, others by having their houses
burned down around them.
When they were leaving, I heard the boy ask his mother if he could stop at
Mickey D's for a burger on the way home. When she told him no, that they didn't
have enough money, he did not complain. I had the opportunity to talk to him
several times, and not once did he utter a complaint. Here was a young man whose
body had been turned into a toxic waste dump, who was dying, who knew that to
ever love a woman could be to kill her, and who couldn't even afford a burger.
And he never once complained.
There was a man there who was trying to take care of small children alone, while
dying from AIDS. He had mild hemophilia and had used concentrate one time on the
advice of his doctor as a "safety precaution". By the time he had been informed
of the danger, he had infected his young wife with AIDS and she was dead.
I met a woman from Japan who had infected her son with AIDS, the same as
thousands of American women. She showed me proof that the contaminated medicine
that she had infected her son with was product that had been recalled in the
U.S. The U.S. govt. allowed the blood industry to take hundreds of millions of
dollars worth of contaminated products and sell them to Japan and Costa Rica.
She explained that the majority of AIDS cases in Japan were caused by contamined
products that the FDA allowed industry to sell abroad.
In Feb.,1995, the testimony transcripts given to the IOM on 9/12/94 became
available. I used this as the basis of a book, "Medical Murder: the Hemophilia
Holocaust".
On May 2, 1995, I was informed that the product that I had recieved a year
earlier was recalled because of the contamination with CJD. I was told not to
worry.
Cruetzfeldt-Jacob disease is a [formerly] rare disease caused by something
called a prion. There is no blood test for CJD, and it can only be diagnosed by
an autopsy.
In the blood industry, it is a maxim that the larger the product pools, the
larger the profits.
A single commercial donor who died of CJD in 1994 has put anyone who used pooled
blood produsts after 1954 [yes,1954] at risk. These products include Immune
globulin, Prolastin, Albumin, PPS, NSA, Factor VIII, Factor IX, and other
products.
The prognosis for CJD is no visible symptoms for up to forty years followed by
dementia and death.
The American Red Cross is notifying people who may have fresh, contaminated
products in their possession, but refusing to notify those who have already used
contaminated products.
The ARC says there is no proof that CJD is transmitted through blood products.
The New England Journal Of Medicine states that it "has been shown
expermimentally to be present in blood", and clearly states that "blood or
cerebral fluid must be considered as potential sources of infection". LancetIf
the experience of 10,000 hemophiliacs is repeated, tens of thousands of
Americans will die a horrible death without compensation or even assistance from
the industry responsible or the congress that bends over for industry.
Congress says the blood industry is doing a good job regulating the blood
industry, and there is no need to change anything.
If you believe Congress should stop allowing the blood industry to regulate
themselves ask your representatives to support HR1021.
If you believe people infected with deadly diseases from commercial products
should be compensated, ask your representatives to support HR1023.
In addition to these bills that have already been introduced, ask your
representatives to support action that would allow those injured by commercial
blood products legal recourse. This would involve the repeal of the "blood
shield" laws, and a federal cause of action to repeal the statutes of
limitations for those injured in the past.
This year, the blood industry will collect about 2.5 Billion dollars. Since the
military developed the technology to remove hepatitis from albumin in 1950, the
blood industry has taken in something like 100 billion dollars. Where has that
money gone? It has gone into the pockets of govt. blood regulators, into NHF
pockets, into the pockets of lobbyists and lawyers like Fullbright and Jaworski,
and Oconnor, Cohn, Dillon, and Barr. It has gone into the pockets of the most
disease riddled segments of society in exchange for their blood. It has gone
into ARC pockets and the pockets of enormous multi-national corporations who
colletively make many times 2.5 billion per year.
If you believe that the tens of thousands of victims of the blood industry
should recieve justice demand that congress order a real, follow the money,
investigation of the entire industry beginning in 1950. This is the only way
that the full story will ever be revealed.
Recently, I said that another medical disaster was imminant. Now I say that
another medical disaster has already occured.
Thank you,
Mike Dibble
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