Letters To The Editor

DEBATE VS. BASEBALL: SAD COMMENTARY

It's a sad statement for our country when a presidential debate had to be scheduled around a baseball game. When the second and final debate was announced, two dates were given depending upon how long the baseball playoffs would take. Have Americans become so turned off by this election that a baseball game is more important?

If that is the case, then we as Americans should be ashamed of ourselves, as well as with the candidates who allowed this to happen. Both candidates have shown little courage or leadership during this election. It would appear as Election Day draws near that nothing will change.

One has to wonder how any world leader could ever respect either candidate when the American people appear not to. Nothing, especially a sports event, should ever be allowed to pre-empt a presidential debate. The future of our country and the world will be affected by the winner of the election, not a baseball game.

Ford Robin Dolin

Philadelphia.

BLOOD WAS SAFE

In response to the Sept. 15 article "Red Cross releases tainted blood," the Red Cross is confident that the blood released was not "tainted" and was no less safe than the regular volunteer blood supply.

Although some Red Cross blood centers in the nation erroneously released blood products, in none of the 56 Red Cross regions was blood issued for transfusion that had a confirmed positive test for AIDS or hepatitis B. Erroneous release was not a problem for southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. This region did have one erroneous product release due to clerical error, one year ago, that was not of medical significance.

Our regional blood center, one of the largest in the nation, has a superb blood safety record. Our safety record is the result of an enthusiastic and committed staff and a state-of-the-art automated testing, products and data management system. Our staff received praise from the Food and Drug Administration inspector conducting our most recent inspection.

In recent years, the complexities associated with blood-product management have reached an extreme degree. The testing standards set by the American Red Cross exceed those of the FDA. Each donor unit undergoes 20 blood tests and many undergo more.