
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, May 8, 1993                   TAG: 9305080030
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

RED CROSS MAKES BLOOD VOW

The American Red Cross, under orders from the Food and Drug Administration, has agreed to correct continuing deficiencies in its national blood collection system, the FDA announced Friday.

The FDA declined to be specific about the nature of the deficiencies - other than to say that they involve record-keeping and accident-reporting procedures - and officials of both agencies were quick to stress that the nation's blood supply remains safe.

"For any patient requiring a blood transfusion, the risk of not receiving that transfusion outweighs the risk of receiving blood," FDA Commissioner David A. Kessler said in a statement. "We are committed to maintaining the safety of the blood supply."

The American Red Cross - which two years ago launched a multiyear, $140 million reorganization program to strengthen its procedures - said Friday that the consent decree signed with the FDA "establishes priorities and timetables" consistent with its ongoing efforts.

"We will not only fulfill the requirements of the FDA, we will surpass them," said Elizabeth Hanford Dole, president of the American Red Cross. "This agreement will help strengthen the safety . . . and guarantees already built into the system."

The American Red Cross is the largest supplier of blood, collecting 6 million units - 50 percent of the nation's blood supply - annually. Its procedures have been under scrutiny for more than five years.

Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.

by CNB