Opening Statement by Michael Galster: Conference on Contaminated Prison Plasma
National Press Club, Washington D.C.
February 24, 1999 Michael Galster
Not for commercial use. Solely to be used for the educational purposes of research and open discussion.
Opening Statement by Michael Galster: Conference on Contaminated Prison Plasma
Michael Galster
National Press Club, Washington D.C.
February 24, 1999
I am Michael Galster. I feel that I need to tell you how it is that I have called all of these people together for this conference and why a medical practitioner in prosthetics from Arkansas has brought such a devastating story to the nation's capital.
The story goes back to my years as a medical worker within the gates of the infamous prison farm in Arkansas. . . Cummins. During those years in the early and mid 1980's I discovered that inmates who were desperately ill were encouraged to sell their blood to the state prison medical administration. I was stupid enough, or innocent enough, to believe that there was a technique to kill or remove the diseased elements from that blood. Years later I was to find that no attempt had even been made to purify that blood.
To tell this story, in 1997 I wrote a novel entitled "Blood Trail" under the pen name of Michael Sullivan. It is the story of a father's attempt to call to justice those people responsible for destroying his son. In "Blood Trail" the son is infected with AIDS from a blood transfusion. I took literary license to follow the logical flow of money and power which would have allowed this system to flourish in a state such as Arkansas and I allowed the father in the story to seek the answers to the question, "Why was my son infected?".
My hope was that some energetic reporter would pick up on my portrayal of this horrible tragedy and bring it to the attention of the American authorities. As I soon discovered, this wasn't going to happen. The political climate had changed significantly in Arkansas and after discussions with my family I decided to carry out an investigation of my own. I traveled to Canada and visited with many of the victims of tainted blood shipments from Arkansas. That trip changed my life.
I found scattered stories from every front. I found lawyers, business people, housewives and athletes. I found people in the final stages of their disease and others for whom the ordeal had just begun.
I heard the stories of hundreds of hemophiliacs, who already dealt with their birthright disease everyday and were now dealing with AIDS and Hepatitis C infections that ravaged their bodies.
I found wives unwittingly infected by their husbands. I found people whose resources diminished daily, victims too tired to fight. I found far too many children.
I found these people.
With me today are Canadians representing the victims in their country who have been directly infected by the Arkansas prison plasma. As a group they have just announced their suit in Canada for over a billion dollars against the government agencies, pharmaceutical companies and individuals in their country who knowingly passed a tainted product into the system.
In Arkansas I discovered that the atrocities I had suspected, paled in comparison with what had actually occurred during those years. I was even more embarrassed and astounded to find out how many life threatening decisions the leaders in my state had made so recklessly. I found documents and personal testimony that confirmed my suspicions and many of the speculations I made in "Blood Trail".
Also with me today are representatives of an inmates group from Arkansas with their legal counsel. These are men and women who were donors within the prison. They have traced their illnesses to the irresponsible practices of the prison Plasma program in Arkansas. They will have some announcements to make. There were victims on both ends of the needle.
And very importantly we have representatives from the American hemophiliac community known as "The Committee of Ten Thousand". These are the American counterparts of the Canadian group. They have fought a battle for restitution here in the United States for over 7 years, but just like the Canadians, their group has yet to uncover the full source of their infections.
These men and women standing together with me have followed a blood trail of their own. They are just a tiny representation of the victims of diseased blood, a group that grows smaller each day; a group who for the most part is too ill to travel. Those here with me are Canadians and Americans. But the bad blood from Arkansas was sold into the arms of the blood users of many nations.
Unlike Japan, Italy, Germany, Spain and France, North America has yet to bring officials to legal recourse over their involvement in the Tainted Blood Affair.
Ours is not a story that easily grabs the attention of the public. It is not about sexual improprieties in the Oval office, taped personal messages or phone sex. But, it is about the same reckless, careless, and irresponsible behavior that has become the trademark of the present administration. The difference in this case is that lives were in the balance during those dark years back in Arkansas. And even though the people who were in power then have moved on to bigger and grander places, these victims are still paying the price. They are paying with their lives. And this brings up the real reason I'm here. If I had asked the obvious questions 15 years ago, lives could have been spared. I will go to my grave with that knowledge. But there were others, medical and business and political people who were in positions of responsibility. It was their job to guard our blood supply and they failed miserably.
I ask that you hear these stories. I ask that you not allow the extraordinary nature of the events in our media to overshadow this cry for justice! This will be the last chance for many of those who are living this nightmare.
We are calling today for a full inquiry by the US authorities. We ask that the FBI take up the investigation which until now has been carried out by a handful of us who no longer have the power or resources to go forward. We ask that they coordinate their effort with the ongoing investigation being performed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. We ask that they bring those people forward to answer for their involvement in this crime against humanity.
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Michael Galster, C.P.O., author of the novel Blood Trail, prison medical practioner, and conference organizer.
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freerepublic.com
To: Brian Mosely, Great Dane, liliana, MadAsHell, Budge, Boyd, A Whitewater Researcher, Prince Charles
Stories on the Conference on Contaminated Prison Plasma, National Press Club, Washington, D.C., February 24, 1999:
TALKSPOT: Tainted Blood Victims March On Washington (TalkSpot News OnLine Magazine)
Clinton to be subpoenaed by Canadian tainted blood victims (By ROBERT RUSSO, The Canadian Press)
Dumping scandal: THE EXPORT OF BAD BLOOD (Salon, Suzi Parker)
TAINTED BLOOD: Lawyers debate extending deal for blood victims (Mark Kennedy, The Ottawa Citizen)
Clinton to be subpoenaed by Canadian tainted blood victims (ROBERT RUSSO, CP)
Canadians seek Justice probe in sale of prison blood (By Jerry Seper, THE WASHINGTON TIMES)
AP: Canadians blame FDA for allowing export of tainted blood (By Pete Yost, Associated Press)
TAINTED BLOOD: Virus 'Dripped Into My Veins,' Blood Victim Says (By Maggie Fox, Reuters)
From: Wallaby (wallaby@altavista.net) *
02/25/99 20:11:30 PST |
