Hospitals To Test Blood Substitute But Some Experts Contend Liquid Could Be Dangerous

Trauma patients rushed to Chicago’s Cook County Hospital soon may awaken to discover they’re pioneers in the search for artificial blood, as a red liquid that looks like real blood - but isn’t - drips into their veins.

Doctors at Cook County and 20 other emergency rooms nationwide later this fall will begin the first mass testing of a potential substitute for human blood. That will involve 850 patients.

No one expects these first attempts to supplant nature. But the hope is that artificial blood will save lives when doctors run short on the real stuff.

But some experts are skeptical.

There are health risks from the substitute to be tested, Baxter HealthCare’s HemAssist, some scientists believe. It raises blood pressure through complex blood vessel changes that Dr. Gerald Sandler, director of Georgetown University Medical Center’s blood bank, fears could cause harm.

The Food and Drug Administration is examining some reports that artificial blood might shut down the body’s capillary system.

Another potential blood substitute, PolyHeme, also may be tested. The 20 other hospitals have yet to be chosen.

Both liquids are made from outdated blood. Scientists stripped human hemoglobin, the blood protein that carries oxygen, out of the cell coating that makes it cause allergic reactions and then chemically modified it to stay fresh longer.

This fake blood lives in a person’s bloodstream just a few days before ceasing to be effective. It doesn’t clot or fight infections, so it’s not a permanent replacement.

The question is whether it can help trauma patients survive or reduce the amount of real blood they need.