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Portrait of a political "pit bull"
By Russ Baker
Rep. Dan Burton has a few questions to answer about his own history of womanizing and alleged campaign finance irregularities.
(12/22/98)
What if it were President Packwood?
By Andrew Ross
Liberals must face up to their hypocrisy in backing a president who lied under oath in a sexual harassment lawsuit
(12/22/98)
Life of the party?
By Joshua Micah Marshall
With Livingston gone, Tom DeLay runs the party
(12/19/98)
On to the Senate
By Harry Jaffe
With impeachment behind him, the president carries on. And on (12/19/98)
A plague on all their houses
By Murray Waas
On Capitol Hill, partisan hard-liners have damaged the constitutional democracy they claim to hold so dear
(12/18/98)
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BLOOD MONEY | PAGE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
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The plasma contract then went to Pine Bluff Biologicals, which took over the program and even expanded it, opening bleed units at the Wrightsville unit and the Diagnostic Unit -- the prison's hospital. "There is this whole thing about the high-risk population. I disagree with that. There's no scientific proof to that," says Jimmy Lord, former owner of Pine Bluff Biologicals.
Lord insists he had no connections with scandal-tainted HMA. "I never worked for HMA. I never had anything to do with HMA," Lord says adamantly. "That center was shut down under HMA, and the center pulled some strings. Somehow they got it reinstated. I know how, but I wouldn't say. Good Old Boy Network." But documents show that in the early 1980s Lord did have connections with HMA, which shipped blood in the same trucks as Pine Bluff Biologicals. And Lord admits to selling blood to HMA.
"Yeah, I sold some street [non-prison] blood to him. There was an overabundance of Type O one year," Lord says. "Instead of me cutting my donors off and losing them, I found an outlet through HMA. That was before they got in trouble. I had a good friend who worked for them, and he made sure I got paid. It was always a shaky thing dealing with them."
Problems continued in Lord's plasma program. In 1988, the red blood cells of one inmate were accidentally infused into the wrong person, the Arkansas Times reported. The next year, an FDA inspector said the center had inadequate control over screening new donors to prove they were not on a permanent reject list. Record keeping was also inadequate. As for AIDS, Lord says that it wasn't a big concern in Arkansas -- he thought it was an issue in places like New York and California -- when he was running the program. "If anyone got caught in a homosexual act, we took them off the roster," Lord says.
Prison system administrators never wanted to shut down the program. In 1991, Byus told a local reporter: "We plan to stick with it to the last day, to the last drop we're able to sell." That year, a group from New York took over the plasma program from Pine Bluff Biologicals.
In 1992, a new series of state police investigations into the system resulted in department of corrections director Lockhart's resignation, after a barrage of allegations, including nepotism in the plasma program. He was found to have asked Lord to hire Lockhart's son to work in the plasma program. A Little Rock grand jury charged Lockhart with four counts of mail fraud, but he turned state's evidence, testified against then-state Rep. Lloyd George and was not convicted.
Prison medical director Byus, who still works for the system, stated in a police interview that Lockhart showed "an inordinate amount of concern for the success of Pine Bluff Biological in their plasma unit program," and would even have security officers "recruit" inmates to give plasma. Byus said that Lockhart "was interested in seeing large numbers of inmates participate in the program."
Finally, in 1994, the plasma program ended.
But Mike Galster, the medical practitioner, never forgot the grim images he witnessed in those years. Galster used the pseudonym Michael Sullivan to write "Blood Trail," a thinly veiled fictional account of tainted blood in the Arkansas prison system. In Canada, the book has become a bestseller and fueled more investigations into Cummins. "In so many ways it reminds you of Nazi Germany," Galster says. "If it had been the typical Arkansas scam, where we are talking about pigs, tractors, even land, that would be one thing. These guys had the power over a captive audience to make money from human beings."
Galster left HMA in 1983 after he rejected a typical Arkansas ploy -- a demand by an HMA associate that he kick back part of his earnings. "The way Arkansas works is that once you are working within the system, the people in charge make it clear that it is a privilege to have that state contract," Galster says. "Ultimately, you are expected to pay for that privilege."
"This I know," Galster continues. "Without the governor's support and protection, this disease-riddled system would have been shut down by 1982."
In Canada, Michael McCarthy, a hepatitis C sufferer from Stratford, Ontario, is understandably bitter. "I think it is devastating to the victims of the blood disaster in Canada," says McCarthy, who is married with one child and can no longer work thanks to third stage liver failure. "It shows it wasn't God that was running the blood system. It was people who were making bad decisions based on money."
SALON | Dec. 24, 1998
Suzi Parker is a Little Rock journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and many local publications.

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T A B L E+T A L K Do you agree or disagree with President Clinton's decision to bomb Iraq? Join the debate in Table Talk's International Issues area R E C E N T L Y Portrait of a political "pit bull" By Russ Baker Rep. Dan Burton has a few questions to answer about his own history of womanizing and alleged campaign finance irregularities. (12/22/98) What if it were President Packwood? By Andrew Ross Liberals must face up to their hypocrisy in backing a president who lied under oath in a sexual harassment lawsuit (12/22/98) Life of the party? By Joshua Micah Marshall With Livingston gone, Tom DeLay runs the party (12/19/98) On to the Senate By Harry Jaffe With impeachment behind him, the president carries on. And on (12/19/98) A plague on all their houses By Murray Waas On Capitol Hill, partisan hard-liners have damaged the constitutional democracy they claim to hold so dear (12/18/98) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Browse the Newsreal Archives - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
		BLOOD MONEY \| PAGE 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - - - - - - - - - - The plasma contract then went to Pine Bluff Biologicals, which took over the program and even expanded it, opening bleed units at the Wrightsville unit and the Diagnostic Unit -- the prison's hospital. "There is this whole thing about the high-risk population. I disagree with that. There's no scientific proof to that," says Jimmy Lord, former owner of Pine Bluff Biologicals. Lord insists he had no connections with scandal-tainted HMA. "I never worked for HMA. I never had anything to do with HMA," Lord says adamantly. "That center was shut down under HMA, and the center pulled some strings. Somehow they got it reinstated. I know how, but I wouldn't say. Good Old Boy Network." But documents show that in the early 1980s Lord did have connections with HMA, which shipped blood in the same trucks as Pine Bluff Biologicals. And Lord admits to selling blood to HMA. "Yeah, I sold some street [non-prison] blood to him. There was an overabundance of Type O one year," Lord says. "Instead of me cutting my donors off and losing them, I found an outlet through HMA. That was before they got in trouble. I had a good friend who worked for them, and he made sure I got paid. It was always a shaky thing dealing with them." Problems continued in Lord's plasma program. In 1988, the red blood cells of one inmate were accidentally infused into the wrong person, the Arkansas Times reported. The next year, an FDA inspector said the center had inadequate control over screening new donors to prove they were not on a permanent reject list. Record keeping was also inadequate. As for AIDS, Lord says that it wasn't a big concern in Arkansas -- he thought it was an issue in places like New York and California -- when he was running the program. "If anyone got caught in a homosexual act, we took them off the roster," Lord says. Prison system administrators never wanted to shut down the program. In 1991, Byus told a local reporter: "We plan to stick with it to the last day, to the last drop we're able to sell." That year, a group from New York took over the plasma program from Pine Bluff Biologicals. In 1992, a new series of state police investigations into the system resulted in department of corrections director Lockhart's resignation, after a barrage of allegations, including nepotism in the plasma program. He was found to have asked Lord to hire Lockhart's son to work in the plasma program. A Little Rock grand jury charged Lockhart with four counts of mail fraud, but he turned state's evidence, testified against then-state Rep. Lloyd George and was not convicted. Prison medical director Byus, who still works for the system, stated in a police interview that Lockhart showed "an inordinate amount of concern for the success of Pine Bluff Biological in their plasma unit program," and would even have security officers "recruit" inmates to give plasma. Byus said that Lockhart "was interested in seeing large numbers of inmates participate in the program." Finally, in 1994, the plasma program ended. But Mike Galster, the medical practitioner, never forgot the grim images he witnessed in those years. Galster used the pseudonym Michael Sullivan to write "Blood Trail," a thinly veiled fictional account of tainted blood in the Arkansas prison system. In Canada, the book has become a bestseller and fueled more investigations into Cummins. "In so many ways it reminds you of Nazi Germany," Galster says. "If it had been the typical Arkansas scam, where we are talking about pigs, tractors, even land, that would be one thing. These guys had the power over a captive audience to make money from human beings." Galster left HMA in 1983 after he rejected a typical Arkansas ploy -- a demand by an HMA associate that he kick back part of his earnings. "The way Arkansas works is that once you are working within the system, the people in charge make it clear that it is a privilege to have that state contract," Galster says. "Ultimately, you are expected to pay for that privilege." "This I know," Galster continues. "Without the governor's support and protection, this disease-riddled system would have been shut down by 1982." In Canada, Michael McCarthy, a hepatitis C sufferer from Stratford, Ontario, is understandably bitter. "I think it is devastating to the victims of the blood disaster in Canada," says McCarthy, who is married with one child and can no longer work thanks to third stage liver failure. "It shows it wasn't God that was running the blood system. It was people who were making bad decisions based on money." SALON \| Dec. 24, 1998 Suzi Parker is a Little Rock journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and many local publications. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Become a Salon member. Click here.