Thomas

>>In 1985 the American Red Cross stated that our blood supply was entirely safe as it was tested for Aids. Such a statement is irrefutable. The headline of a daily San Francisco Chronicle newspaper stated in 1960, “Cancer Cured”! These statements must be true. Or are they?<<

This is the joy and the hurt of medicine. In law, accounting and many other professions, if there is uncertainty you can submit to a Court who will decide "the truth". In medicine as in much of science, there is no Court to decide; we have to figure it out. And there is the catch. You can't test blood for Hepatitis C or AIDS until you figure out what they are, that they can be transmitted in blood transfusions, and how to test for them. I'll leave it to you to decide how you find out that these diseases exist and can be transmitted in blood transfusions. If only we had a "medical" Court who could make a rule that would prevent disease being transmitted in blood, or make it so cancer can be cured by signing a contract or announcing it in a newspaper. Medicine would be a whole lot easier.

Regards

JR