Posted March. 28, 2004 23:06,
It has been revealed that 228 cases of blood from 99 people, suspected to be infected as they tested positive for AIDS in initial tests, were supplied to hospitals and pharmaceutical companies due to insolvent blood management of the Korean National Red Cross (KNRC).
It is also appears that there are issues with handling AIDS patients, as the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDCP) demonstrated neglect in the recording and management of 199 AIDS patients.
In addition, as the KNRC did not record in their databases the personal records of 3,400 blood donors who tested positive in a hepatitis test of type B blood and type C blood as "blood donation reservation group"; it has been revealed that 76,677 insolvent blood cases were circulated in university hospitals and pharmaceutical companies from April 1999 to January 2004. Nine infections confirmed as hepatitis A and B occurred as a result of transfusions.
The Board and Audit Inspection (BAI) confirmed on March 28 this was true in a "blood control condition" inspection executed by the KNRC for two months last December at a meeting of the Korea Independent Commission against Corruption (KICAC), and requested personnel management of concerned people such as the Blood Service Bureau of the KNRC.
According to the BAI, although those 99 blood cases suspected to be infected with AIDS should not be circulated by labeling them as a "temporary blood donation reservation group," it was disclosed that the KNRC delayed this for nearly three and a half years.
In particular, it was revealed that 99 blood cases, which should not be circulated until the final diagnosis is made (as they proved AIDS positive in the first inspection but proved negative in the second), were distributed to hospitals and drug companies due to management neglect by the KNRC.
In addition, it appeared that 199 personal records were inaccurate within a list of AIDS patients that the National Institute of Health supplied to the Blood Service Bureau of the KNRC. Included were 115 incorrect names, 70 incorrect resident registration numbers and 14 cases in which the name and resident registration numbers did not correspond.
The BAI revealed that although hepatitis positive patients cannot donate their blood and current supplies of infected donated blood is disqualified from being delivered to the market, the KNRC neglected this and did not enroll them as disqualified people until recently.