Blood Money

Rh-typing serum, commonly used in the laboratory for determining blood types, is a scarce commodity that has been priced at $14 for 10 cc. Now a rich reservoir of the precious serum, potentially worth more than $1,000,000, has been found--all of it running in the veins of a single man in Fort Worth.

The bloodstream riches of dearborn F. Parker, 51, a food processing supervisor, are a byproduct of disease. Last spring Parker reported to Fort Worth's Carter Blood Center complaining of weakness. Physicians found that he had hemochromatosis--a rare condition caused by excessive iron absorption through the intestines into the blood. Some of the iron had deposited in Parker's liver and pancreas, contributing to cirrhosis and a mild case of diabetes.

Treatment: Phlebotomy. Dr. E. Richard Halden Jr. treated Parker in the classical way, draining blood from him in a series of small withdrawals (phlebotomies). Parker's body replaced the old blood with new. Thus far, Parker has had 50 phlebotomies, needs 37 in the near future to bring iron content close to normal. But to keep the iron down, the bloodletting will have to go on for the rest of his lifetime.

Along the way, Dr. Halden and a group of Carter researchers made the rare and happy discovery that Parker's serum (the watery part of the blood) is right for Rh typing. Such serum can be got only from Rh-negative patients who at some time in the past have had an infusion of Rh-positive blood. It contains an antibody called "anti-D," formed by natural body defenses doing battle with the invading Rh-positive factor. (Parker got his anti-D as a result of a 1947 spinal fusion when he was accidentally transfused with Rh-positive blood.) In the laboratory, technicians use the serum with anti-D to test blood specimens for Rh factor. If clumping occurs, technicians can be sure that the specimen is Rh positive.

Building Up Production. At Carter, while drawing blood from Parker to treat the hemochromatosis, physicians made use of the serum byproduct in their laboratory. This gave rise to a proposal to give him more Rh-positive blood and stimulate anti-D production. Such a course was dangerous. Second transfusions of Rh-positive blood into negative patients frequently lead to severe incompatibility reactions, and sometimes death. But only a minute amount of Rh-positive blood need be transfused--a factor that favored the attempt. They put it up to the patient. "Go ahead," said Parker, "if this is going to help other people by reducing their medical expenses." The transfusion and succeeding transfusions were successful. His physicians conservatively estimate that Parker may yet produce enough typing serum for 7,000,000 Rh identifications.

Parker has received only $300, plus free medical care. Rather than cash in on his rich Texas blood, he and the Carter Blood Center propose to get the price of Rh typing serum down.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.