Health

The American Red Cross Calls for Greater Protection Against Mad Cow Disease

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 31, 2002 / 8:41 AM EST / CBS

In an effort to prevent the human form of mad cow disease from spreading, the American Red Cross plans to start turning away blood donors who have lived in Western Europe. But there are fears that the move could have a dangerous impact on already low blood supplies.

CBS Health contributor Dr. Bernadine Healy, the president of the American Red Cross, and Merlyn Sayers, MD, spokesperson of the America's Blood Center are here to tell us more about it.

The American Red Cross is preparing to turn away blood donors who have lived in Western Europe for at least six months from 1980 to present--to protect the US blood supply from the human form of mad cow disease. The Red Cross will be urging a federal panel this week to make the restrictions to apply to all blood collection agencies at least until the transmission of the disease is understood.

Dr. Bernadine Healey says this will have a serious impact: the expected result is a loss of three times as many donors than under the current mad cow restrictions. Some experts say the Red Cross is over reacting and America's Blood Centers which collects the other half of the nation's blood supply says the proposal would be devastating--with New York losing 25% of its blood supply on one day. The brain-destroying disease began in the United Kingdom and has spread throughout Europe. Scientists say people get it from eating tainted meat.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Transmission Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE) committee will meet to review all information that is current about mad cow disease. The blood panel consists of national and international experts to present the most current information from Europe concerning mad cow disease.

What's the purpose of the meeting?

The panel will meet to discuss what recommendations the FDA should make concerning donors exposed to mad cow disease. You have to balance the real risk of someone dying from a lack of blood against the theoretical risk of a donor transmitting mad cow disease.

What do you hope to get out of the meeting?

We are concerned that blood availability is an essential element of safety. You also want to hear what the experts have to say before we abide the FDA's recommendations. We are keen to hear what the FDA has to say on this issue.

The meeting will be held on Thursday and Friday all day. The FDA poses questions to the expert panel on Thursday and Friday. The FDA will review the response and then make their recommendations at a later date.