Polyheme and you, page 1

Are you a candidate to receive synthetic blood without your informed consent?

A substance called Polyheme by Northfield labs is being experimented with and used on trauma patients and the FDA has given them permission to do so, per the ABC news of July 7, 2006 (url provided below), without the patient's informed consent. Though the experiment apparently was begun in 2003, the article quoted below indicates the product will continue to be tested in the "second quarter of 2006".

Note especially that you must "opt out" of the program in order not to be considered a candidate.

Here is a url for the article I'm copying and pasting some of below:

news.uky.edu...

from the University of Kentucky News:

Study of Blood Substitute for Trauma Patients Continues:

LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 23, 2006) – The University of Kentucky is continuing to take part in a national clinical research trial, along with 27 other trauma centers across the country, to evaluate the ability of an investigational blood substitute to reduce mortality among severely injured trauma patients....

Under the study's protocol, potential patients who do not wish to participate may opt out by obtaining a bracelet from study coordinators, similar to other medical alert identifiers.

If you want to know if your city is involved in this, you can find a list at this url:

abcnews.go.com...