INSTITUTE FOR LAW AND SOCIETY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR ERIC A. FELDMAN CO-EDITS NEW BOOK OFFERING GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE ON HIV CONTAMINATION

(For a review copy, contact Joan M. Dim at 212.998.6849)

A new book, Blood Feuds: AIDS, Blood, and the Politics of Medical Disaster (Oxford University Press, 1999), provides a comparative perspective on the political, legal and social struggles that emerged in response to HIV contamination of the blood supply in the industrialized world. The book is co-edited by the Associate Director of NYU’s Institute for Law and Society, Eric A. Feldman.

Blood Feuds describes how eight nations responded to the first signs that AIDS might be transmitted through blood, how early efforts to eliminate contamination faltered, and how measures were finally implemented to secure the blood supply. The remarkable mobilization of hemophiliacs who challenged the state, the medical establishment and their own caregivers also is detailed.

What emerges is the dramatic history (much of it unknown to Americans) of how blood establishments in almost every advanced industrial nation were shaken. In Canada, for example, the Red Cross was forced to withdraw from blood collection and distribution. In Japan, pharmaceutical firms that manufactured clotting factor agreed to pay massive compensation. In France, blood officials went to prison. In Denmark, the struggle and litigation surrounding blood resulted in the most protracted legal and administrative conflict in modern Danish history. Everywhere, the struggle for compensation and justice permanently altered the legal, political, and public health landscape.

While Blood Feuds looks specifically at the story of HIV and blood, the issues it raises are far-reaching:

· When should the US government and private physicians be legally or ethically obligated to warn patients about potential health risks?

· In a world of imperfect safety, which accident victims deserve compensation, and when should compensation be provided even without a showing of fault?

· Is there a way to organize the health care bureaucracy that can minimize the likelihood of iatrogenic tragedies?

· How can we prepare for other impending medical disasters, such as Hepatitis C?

11/03/99