Blood Farm: The Explosive Corporate Scandal That Altered the Course of the AIDS Crisis

The shocking story of how corporate greed and political corruption turned a miracle cure for hemophilia into a deadly poison that accelerated the AIDS epidemic and the international effort to cover it up Factor VIII was meant to be a miracle drug. Its blood clotting protein could save hemophiliacs from dangerous, even lethal, bleeds. But what doctors didn’t know as they injected Factor VIII into the arms of eager patients was that pharmaceutical companies like Bayer and Baxter were harvesting Factor VIII from blood collected on skid row, in night clubs, and in prisons during the growing AIDs crisis. The companies knew these high-risk donors, who were paid with a cigarette or small sums of cash, could contaminate the drug. Still, miracles are a lucrative business, so they knowingly sold the product and effectively played Russian roulette with hemophiliacs’ lives. At Treloar, a British school for children with disabilities, 89 students under eighteen tested positive for HIV. Less than a quarter survived. Award-winning journalist Cara McGoogan follows the twisting trail of tightlipped executives and missing documents to bravely ask if the line of corruption could have been broken, whether people could have been saved, and, ultimately, who is to blame for the thousands of unnecessary deaths that altered the course of the AIDs epidemic. McGoogan not only uncovers the scandal of Factor VIII but also exposes a sweeping blueprint for corporate greed and malfeasance that, from the opioid crisis to vaping addictions, reverberates in our lives today. This is a deeply human story that draws a deft portrait of the hemophiliacs whose lives were ruined by Factor VIII, the doctors who had to reckon with their mistakes, the inmates and willing donors who learned of their compliance too late, and the courageous whistleblowers, survivors, and lawyers who daringly fought for justice...M.F "A stunning investigation." ­­ — Publishers Weekly How a miracle treatment turned deadly and changed the course of the AIDS crisis. By the mid 1980s, AIDS hysteria was so rampant that a fearful and prejudiced public ignored stories of gay men falling ill with lesions and mouth ulcers. President Reagan avoided mentioning the disease entirely. Then, as chronicled in Blood Farm , a new HIV-positive population emerged, one that included kids like Ken Dixon, Brad Cross, and Ryan White who had been infected as young as ten years old. But how? Unbeknownst to doctors and patients, pharmaceutical companies like Bayer, Baxter, and Armour collected plasma on skid row, in night clubs, and in some of America's most notorious prisons to make Factor VIII, a new miracle treatment for hemophilia. Companies knew these practices put patients at high risk of HIV, but miracles are a lucrative business, so they knowingly sold an infected product and effectively played Russian Roulette with hemophiliacs' lives. The results were catastrophic. In America, some 8,000 people with hemophilia contracted HIV; only 700 are alive today. Award-winning journalist Cara McGoogan daringly exposes an expansive map of corporate greed and negligence that led to one of the biggest overlooked medical scandals in history. Alongside her we meet survivors turned activists, determined small town lawyers, and fearless reporters desperate for justice. Their fight for retribution created a critical inflection point in the AIDS crisis: stigmas shifted, settlements were awarded, and, later, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the largest federal program on HIV. In shocking, riveting detail, Blood Farm uncovers how a miracle treatment became a deadly poison and forever changed our understanding of AIDS.