24 March 2022: Foster - A

Dr Foster, not from Gloucester, immediately presents as a colourful character. He could be Tom Felton's (Draco Malfoy's) fictional wizarding father (no offense intended by association). He is also a serial Inquiry witness, while never being a medically qualified type of doctor himself (not that that's a criticism).

The history lesson goes straight back to Cohn, his Harvard fraction, and the impetus to have a blood replacement product (albumin?), just in case US soldiers end up going to war and getting themselves injured. Why do so many strands of the story begin from a military imperative?

Precipitate sounds like solid sediment  scraped from the bottom of the container. I guess such reductionist language would turn anything into a starkly basal activity. Sometimes it is necessary to see the nuts and bolts of what might otherwise be thought of as mysterious medical magicianship.

A frozen product is defrosted, manipulated, and the resulting gloop is re-frozen. Most foodstuffs don't do well to be frozen after having previously been defrosted. Clearly the stringent adherence to sterile handling environments and refrigeration processes would be especially vital to get right. Right?

The propensity of clotting factors to clot (doh!) was a problem for processing to extract it. So an interim step was to limit the clotting action of the clotting factor until it was gleaned. Chemical and heating processes, plus the need for cleansing solvents and filters, then affected yield and efficacy. Attempts to maximise yield by tweaking the process could have produced unforeseen consequences, such as new or exacerbated side effects. Add to that the complications of researchers attempting to be recognised as leaders in their field, plus the drive for copyright and commercial exploitation, and it is obvious that the potential (temptation) for cutting corners to make progress would be a very real concern.

Dr Foster's ingenuity and problem solving nature is evidenced by how he created a bespoke, simple way of referencing the large library of research and other materials to make it more easily searchable.

Clearly, the Medicines Inspectorate report didn't just focus on how clean or not the worktops were. There were also strategic recommendations to allow better practice through the involvement of related disciplines being in closer physical proximity.

Albumin was safer because it could be pasteurised. Maybe that is why milk is better for you than Irn Bru. Using ethanol (a basic alcohol) in the fractionation process might explain why the ill-informed health professionals assumed our liver damage was down to too much drinking in the pub.

PFC had direct access to Somerville, so this surely indicates some recognition of the importance of the activity going on there.

It is interesting to note Jenni asking a question which she says was submitted to the Inquiry for a previous witness, but is now seen as appropriate for this witness. And what a question. Did the PFC use blood from haemophiliacs to in any way? "Yes", it was essential, and Dr Foster said they were very grateful for the generosity of patients for providing their blood for that purpose. How nice of Dr Foster to acknowledge this. I feel better now.