According to a recent study, hemoglobinbased blood substitutes increase the risk of death by 30% and virtually triple the possibility of a heart attack.
Blood substitute risk
Sixteen previous clinical trials were analysed involving five different blood substitutes and 3,771 patients. A total of 164 deaths among patients treated with blood substitutes were found, compared to 123 deaths among patients treated with normal blood. Charles Natanson, of the National Institutes of Health, was the lead author of the study.
