Cry Bloody Murder:: A Tale of Tainted Blood Review

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Every prospective parent should read this book. Every prospective patient should read this book. In short, YOU should read this book.
In Cry Bloody Murder, Elaine DePrince retells the heartbreaking story of her familys struggle with bleeding disorders, AIDS and the drug companies whose products infected thousands with HIV. Of her five sons, two have died of AIDS and one is living with the disease.
Both DePrince and her children have bleeding disorders; components of their blood, assigned to form clots, are missing. There is a spectrum of severity with such disorders. They are hereditary, and sometimes occur spontaneously within a generation. In Cry Bloody Murder, DePrince explains in detail the genetics, the medical history and treatment of bleeding disorders such as hemophilia and von Willebrand disease. Hemophilia effects men almost exclusively.
During the mid-1960's, concentrated clotting factor products became available, extracted from the blood plasma of donors. The new products brought with them the hope of an easier, longer life for persons with hemophilia. They also carried all of the viruses coursing through the blood of the donors, including many forms of hepatitis.
DePrince weaves back and forth between her family and the technical and historical. We fall in love with her sons. They become our brothers, our children and our friends. DePrince takes us on a journey through the happy times as well as the sad. Occasionally, one of her sons takes over the narrative.
The means to eliminate the virus baggage were available in the 1970's. The companies manufacturing the product opted against using it. DePrince describes, in chilling detail, the process through which the United States Food and Drug Administration, the drug manufacturers and elected officials chose higher profits and convenience (for the manufacturers) over the human needs of the consumers.
Many of the plasma donors were paid. Some donations were from prisons, and many from the poorest sections of society. The plasma was even imported from other nations. In the early 1980's, the hepatitis epidemic among hemophiliacs was joined with the AIDS epidemic. By the mid-1980's, the big majority of hemophiliacs in the United States were infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
On June 2, 1993, Cubby DePrince returned from the hospital the last time. He was 11 years old. He was vomiting continuously during the ride. However, Cubby insisted on visiting a Bob's Big Boy restaurant along the highway, where he and his mother had stopped many times before. The waitresses and management knew Cubby and had been his friends through several years of monthly hospital trips. He got up from his wheelchair to say goodbye. On June 8, Cubby died at home.
DePrince discusses the litigation and the legislative efforts on the part of the hemophilia community. In most states, the blood companies were shielded from product liability lawsuits. There is a continuing effort to remove this statutory protection. The statute of limitations for product liability lawsuits are too short, when the deadly virus can take over a decade to incubate.
One piece of legislation, the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1997 is presently before the U.S. Congress. Through this legislation, the survivors in the hemophilia community will gain a measure of financial relief. The bills supporters are presently struggling to gain cosponsors in the Senate.
The story told in Cry Bloody Murder could be that of any family. Elaine DePrince didn't know that she carried a genetic variation that causes a bleeding disorder until her sons were born. The blood product industry supplies components to many treatments and inoculations. We are all at risk.
In the final section, DePrince quotes a list Cubby drew up, 64 Reasons Why You Do Not Want To Get AIDS. The last three are as follows:
62. You do a lot of important things because you have to squeeze them into a short time like ten or eleven years instead of eighty-seven.
63. You try to be extra good and cheerful because if you are extra good and cheerful when you go to heaven, you'll get to be a guardian angel. Being a guardian angel is a better job than just being a spirit.
64. You wonder if people will still remember after you are dead.

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