Blood Farm : the explosive big pharma scandal that altered the AIDS crisis / Cara McGoogan.
Material type:
TextPublisher: [New York] : Diversion Books, a division of Diversion Publishing Corp., 2023Copyright date: ©2023Edition: First Diversion Books editionDescription: 353 pages ; 24 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9781635768886
- 1635768888
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Shelving location | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | NonFiction | New | 616.9792 M146 | Checked out | 07/13/2024 | 33111011212004 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
Shortlisted for the Lukas Book Prize
Named a Best Book of the Year by The Financial Times
"A stunning investigation." -- Publishers Weekly
How a miracle treatment turned deadly and changed the course of the AIDS crisis.
By the mid 1980s, AIDS hysteria was so rampant that a fearful and prejudiced public ignored stories of gay men falling ill with lesions and mouth ulcers. President Reagan avoided mentioning the disease entirely. Then, as chronicled in Blood Farm , a new HIV-positive population emerged, one that included kids like Ken Dixon, Brad Cross, and Ryan White who had been infected as young as ten years old. But how?
Unbeknownst to doctors and patients, pharmaceutical companies like Bayer, Baxter, and Armour collected plasma on skid row, in night clubs, and in some of America's most notorious prisons to make Factor VIII, a new miracle treatment for hemophilia. Companies knew these practices put patients at high risk of HIV, but miracles are a lucrative business, so they knowingly sold an infected product and effectively played Russian Roulette with hemophiliacs' lives. The results were catastrophic. In America, some 8,000 people with hemophilia contracted HIV; only 700 are alive today.
Award-winning journalist Cara McGoogan daringly exposes an expansive map of corporate greed and negligence that led to one of the biggest overlooked medical scandals in history. Alongside her we meet survivors turned activists, determined small town lawyers, and fearless reporters desperate for justice. Their fight for retribution created a critical inflection point in the AIDS crisis: stigmas shifted, settlements were awarded, and, later, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the largest federal program on HIV. In shocking, riveting detail, Blood Farm uncovers how a miracle treatment became a deadly poison and forever changed our understanding of AIDS.
Includes bibliographical references (pages [331]-353) and index (appears as QR code).
"Award-winning journalist Cara McGoogan follows the twisting trail of tightlipped executives and missing documents to bravely ask if the line of corruption could have been broken, whether people could have been saved, and, ultimately, who is to blame for the thousands of unnecessary deaths. McGoogan not only uncovers the scandal of Factor VIII but also exposes a sweeping blueprint for corporate greed and malfeasance that, from the opioid crisis to vaping addictions, reverberates in our lives today. This is a deeply human story that draws a deft portrait of the victims whose lives were ruined by Factor VIII, the doctors who had to reckon with their mistakes, the inmates and willing donors who learned of their compliance too late, and the courageous whistleblowers, survivors, and lawyers who daringly fought for justice" -- Provided by publisher.