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House Call: Blood Banks Issuing Urgent Appeals for Donations
Aired January 17, 2003 - 07:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Blood banks are now issuing urgent appeals for donations. Some hospitals are being forced to postpone elective operations because of a blood shortage.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta knows all about this in our "House Call" today and the rest of the health news.
Sanjay -- good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Yes, Bill, just as you say, some parts of the country now less than a one-day supply of blood. An optimal level incidentally is a seven-day supply.
January typically tends to be a bad time of year. Blood's in short supply because of the holidays, travel schedules, inclement weather. Right now, two-thirds of the American Red Cross regions around the country are issuing an emergency appeal. So please donate. Remember, you can donate every two months, every 56 days, as long as you're at least 17 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds. Bill, I think you just make it.
Another story out there has to do with the abuse of prescription drugs and our youth. Numbers coming out of the FDA yesterday show that almost three million youths aged 12 to 17 and seven million young adults aged 18 to 25 have used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes. So, in an effort to try and drive down those numbers, the government is launching a campaign to tell people that just because it's a prescription drug doesn't mean it's a safe drug, an important message. Look for those ads soon.
And finally, Bill, we're going to take a look at malpractice insurance next hour, an issue near and dear to my heart. The president has a plan to try and tackle the problem. We'll take a look at that -- Bill.
HEMMER: Good deal, OK. Sanjay, but just so our viewers know, in case you can't get enough of the good doctor, this weekend you can get more. What's in store this weekend, Sanjay?
GUPTA: That's right. We've got a new show, Bill, that's coming out. It's called "WEEKEND HOUSE CALL." It's going to be 8:30 to 9:00 in the morning both Saturday and Sunday.
And this Saturday, we're going to talk about how to stay motivated. We're going to look at New Year's resolutions, how not to break them. On Sunday, we're going to deal with an issue we've been talking a lot about, cloning.
And we're going to take your calls on these things. You can call us. You can e-mail us, cnn.com/health. We're going to talk to the viewers directly about all of these different issues every Saturday and Sunday 8:30 to 9:00 in the morning -- Bill.
HEMMER: Starting tomorrow morning, the 18th of January.
GUPTA: Absolutely, we'll be here.
HEMMER: Yes, thank you, Sanjay -- see you next hour.
GUPTA: Yes.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Donations>
Aired January 17, 2003 - 07:49 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Blood banks are now issuing urgent appeals for donations. Some hospitals are being forced to postpone elective operations because of a blood shortage.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta knows all about this in our "House Call" today and the rest of the health news.
Sanjay -- good morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Yes, Bill, just as you say, some parts of the country now less than a one-day supply of blood. An optimal level incidentally is a seven-day supply.
January typically tends to be a bad time of year. Blood's in short supply because of the holidays, travel schedules, inclement weather. Right now, two-thirds of the American Red Cross regions around the country are issuing an emergency appeal. So please donate. Remember, you can donate every two months, every 56 days, as long as you're at least 17 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds. Bill, I think you just make it.
Another story out there has to do with the abuse of prescription drugs and our youth. Numbers coming out of the FDA yesterday show that almost three million youths aged 12 to 17 and seven million young adults aged 18 to 25 have used prescription drugs for non-medical purposes. So, in an effort to try and drive down those numbers, the government is launching a campaign to tell people that just because it's a prescription drug doesn't mean it's a safe drug, an important message. Look for those ads soon.
And finally, Bill, we're going to take a look at malpractice insurance next hour, an issue near and dear to my heart. The president has a plan to try and tackle the problem. We'll take a look at that -- Bill.
HEMMER: Good deal, OK. Sanjay, but just so our viewers know, in case you can't get enough of the good doctor, this weekend you can get more. What's in store this weekend, Sanjay?
GUPTA: That's right. We've got a new show, Bill, that's coming out. It's called "WEEKEND HOUSE CALL." It's going to be 8:30 to 9:00 in the morning both Saturday and Sunday.
And this Saturday, we're going to talk about how to stay motivated. We're going to look at New Year's resolutions, how not to break them. On Sunday, we're going to deal with an issue we've been talking a lot about, cloning.
And we're going to take your calls on these things. You can call us. You can e-mail us, cnn.com/health. We're going to talk to the viewers directly about all of these different issues every Saturday and Sunday 8:30 to 9:00 in the morning -- Bill.
HEMMER: Starting tomorrow morning, the 18th of January.
GUPTA: Absolutely, we'll be here.
HEMMER: Yes, thank you, Sanjay -- see you next hour.
GUPTA: Yes.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Donations>
