AABB SmartBrief

The history of hemopure just gets more and more vile.  Now it looks like it was a bigger sham than we knew.

Former Biopure official agrees to settle SEC charges
Biopure‘s former head of regulatory affairs agreed to pay $150,000 to settle allegations from the Securities and Exchange Commission that he deceived investors about the prospects of Hemopure, a blood substitute, in securing FDA approval. Under the agreement, Howard Richman is permanently banned from serving as a director or an officer of a public company.  Wall Street Journal (free content), The (8/7)

Thank goodness the DoD isn’t doing an anthrax vaccine on it – testing it on troops or something.  Oh – never mind:  Biopure

325th Featured in LabMedicine

The “Read More” link goes to a PDF of the entire story of the tasks that a lab performs on the ground in Iraq. Some of the troops in the next iteration of this unit passed through our donor center on the way to Iraq.  They are skilled and it is pretty amazing what all they do, including blood banking, transfusion setups, AND hospital guard – all while wearing their equipment and carrying rifles.

Featured Article

Laboratory Practices in a Combat Zone
The 325th Combat Support Hospital

SSG Sherwin C. Sapasap, MS, MLT(ASCP)
(325th Combat Support Hospital, U.S. Army Reserve, Independence, MO)
This exciting feature follows the 325th Combat Support Hospital in Iraq and examines the practical challenges their field laboratory faces in a hostile environment. From the unique problems they have had to overcome to blood-bank-related issues, this relevant and valuable contribution will educate and enlighten laboratory professionals everywhere.
Read more…

American Society for Clinical Pathology | Lab Medicine

The Surgeon General’s Blog

The Army’s Surgeon General – Eric Schoomaker – set up a blog and is actually using it and displaying useful comments. Wow – check it out:  The Surgeon General’s Blog

Vote for Soldier’s Tales in Comic Contest

Platinum Studios are running the 2008 Comic Book Challenge and an OIF / OEF Vet is in the top ten with a proposal that would illustrate tales of Soldiers.  Voting is open for the three books that will move on – go and vote! 

Platinum Studios’ The Comic Book Challenge 2008 TOP 10: “The Warrior Chronicles” by Victor Castro

Synopsis:

Some of the greatest stories never told are the real life experiences of Soldiers. The real life conflicts of heroes and villains being played out within our lifetime can now be cataloged within the pages of The “Warrior” Chronicles.

Nice People

Mega-church preacher’s wife acts out when she doesn’t get her “due”

Brown alleges Victoria Osteen threw her against a bathroom door and elbowed her in the left breast during an outburst over a stain on her first-class seat. The Federal Aviation Administration fined Victoria Osteen $3,000 for interfering with a crew member. Video Watch: A closer look at the case »

Victoria Osteen “clearly was angry on this flight,” McKamie said.

Mega-preacher’s wife sued over loss of faith – CNN.com.

Boot Camp for Business Vets

A great American, Aggie, and blood donor sent me a heads up:  From a great Navy Vets site comes a great opportunity for disabled Vets.  If you are of a mind to start your own business, give these guys a call and take advantage of this all-expense paid training:

Texas A&M Offers Entrepreneurship Boot Camp

Do you know a veteran disabled as a result of service in Iraq or Afghanistan who wants to start a business Would he or she benefit from a free course in business ownership and operation.

This August 16-23, Texas A&M’s Mays Business School will offer the Entrepreneurship Boot Camp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV), an intensive course in business start-up and management for those injured in the line of duty since 2001.

The program integrates world-class faculty, entrepreneurs, disability experts and business professionals. This is a valuable opportunity for the many veterans for whom traditional employment may be a struggle due to injury.

This training is provided cost-free for participants, including travel and lodging expenses. The program is being underwritten by the generosity of several Aggie alumni who believe in the importance of opportunities for those that have served in the armed forces.

The EBV program is offered in three phases: an online self-study, a nine-day classroom session on campus, and 12 months of ongoing support and mentorship from the faculty experts at the EBV universities.

Applications are accepted on a rolling admissions basis, so there is no set deadline for applying. However those that wish to participate in the program this August must apply soon.

EBV is also offered this year at Syracuse University, UCLA, and Florida State. More details and a downloadable application are available at

http://whitman.syr.edu/ebv/.

If you, or someone you know, have questions about participating, please contact Richard Lester, director of EBV at Mays, at rlester@mays.tamu.edu or (979) 862-7091.

TVUUC Shooting First Person’s Account

My wife pointed out this concise, but harrowing account of one person in the church at the time of the Unitarian Church shooting: Salvador Dali’s LiveJournal.  A fuller account can be found on numerous news sources, like Reuters at “Two Dead, 7 wounded…”

The gunman was tackled by church-goers and taken into custody by police. He was charged later with first-degree murder, but police declined to give a motive for the shooting and the Tennessean newspaper said his motive remained unknown.

The gunman apparently concealed a 12-gauge shotgun until he entered the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and then fired several shots before being subdued, police said.

Maybe I am missing it but there seems to be precious little coverage, blowback, or analysis of this particularly horrible incident.  There also seems to be (unless I am really missing it) almost no reflection on the heroism of the churchgoers, their ability to end the incident without using guns of their own, or the total underestimation of their strength of character by the right-wing extremist that perpetrated it.

Jim D. Adkisson, 58, of Powell, Tennessee, was being held on a $1 million bond at the Knox County Detention Center, said Randall Kenner, communications coordinator for the city of Knoxville.

Endless idiots opined on the Virginia Tech massacre about arming students and whether the teachers or students could have stopped it.  But I don’t hear these same voices remarking on the heroism of Greg McKendry, who gave his life to save children or praising the group of unarmed churchgoers that overwhelmed the shooter and saved the rest.

Owen said Adkisson specifically targeted the church for its beliefs, rather than a particular member of the congregation.

“It appears that church had received some publicity regarding its liberal stance,” the chief said. The church has a “gays welcome” sign and regularly runs announcements in the News Sentinel about meetings of the Parents, Friends and Family of Lesbians and Gays meetings at the church.

I guess it doesn’t fit the supposed “liberal media’s” agenda that a Unitarian Church congregation, offering sanctuary for couples and families of all types, meeting place for a local ACLU chapter, would display the alacrity to attack and disarm the cowardly Adkisson, agent of the Savages and O’Reillys that were his reading material and fed his twisted view of the world.  He, like his mentors, is a coward that would rather attack unarmed children than face up to his own responsibilities to the world.  And now he sits in jail, waiting for a mercy that he tried to deny others.

Motivational Shooting

The Air Force liked their cheerleading sniper so much they made one of those corporate motivational-type posters of her.  But Airman First Class Ashley-Ann Fedusenko Cady is no joke or aberration.   She is a tested Iraq Vet.

Cady’s best on the practice range is a head shot at 1,100 meters – or more than two-thirds of a mile.

Cady is assigned to the 824th Security Forces Squadron of the 820th Contingency Response Group stationed at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Ga. Her unit establishes security and defends U.S. air bases and airfields in foreign countries.

Cady has done two stints in Iraq and will soon be there again.

And she has the typical reasons for joining the military.

“It was a last-minute decision to join the military because they will pay 100 percent of your tuition, although it takes a little longer” to get a degree, Cady said.

“I was never a hunter,” said Cady, 21, who was a three-year varsity cheerleader and a 2002 graduate of Huntsville High School.

Air Force OTS :: OTS Foundation Portal – Ex-cheerleader is small, blonde, deadly with gun

Airman Cady is a good example of non-traditional troops and non-traditional roles filled by those troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and around the world.  It will be important that good leaders address real needs and issues that troops like these face.  Many women react very differently to PTSD and manifest symptoms in very different ways than men and require treatment that is not special but appropriate. 

Et Tu Cape Cod?

A woman from Cape Cod came down with vCJD.  

There are about 300 U.S. cases each year of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a fast-progressing illness that usually affects older people and leads to dementia, movement disorders and ultimately death.  Mass. woman diagnosed with rare brain disease – Yahoo! News

I don’t suppose this will prompt anyone to look at the other issues with vCJD, American meat processing, and blood transfusions. 

No, I guess not.

Getting Blood Tight in Connecticut

ARC is putting receivers out front trying to attract more blood donors in a hurry

Supplying about 30 hospitals, the blood bank’s inventory has a half-day’s worth of most key blood types when a three-day supply is considered adequate, said Paul Sullivan, CEO of the Red Cross Connecticut Blood Services Region.

Red Cross Puts Out Urgent Call For Blood Donors In State — Courant.com