A Congressional counterpoint: Challenging the Reagan Administration on the safety of blood and blood products

Abstract

When the US Centers for Disease Control met a hard wall of political restraint in attempting a full response to the emergency of AIDS in the early 1980s, it was possible to move toward protection of blood and blood products from the legislative branch of government instead - despite resistance from the Red Cross, blood banks, and the Reagan Administration. A Congressional creation, the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), received a request from the author, made on behalf of his employer, the Chairman of a Congressional Committee and a Member of the OTA Congressional Board. He asked the OTA to assess US blood policy in light of scientific and technological developments - most importantly the new disease, AIDS. The OTA issued its report in January 1985. In 1995, a new Republican majority in both legislative chambers eliminated the OTA - and thus a valuable source of policy analysis of scientific issues independent of the executive branch.