So, this is a thing. Taking blood from under 25s, filtering it for its plasma and injecting it into an older wealthy person as a youth elixer.
Ethically, we have a blood shortage and the rich are using scarce blood for their narcissistic ends. While some cancer patients have to do without. For some procedural reason , this process isnt under FDA overview. There is no evidence that it has any positive effect on human beings. No one knows the proper amount of plasma that effects the best result.
Is this a procedure that should be legal without proper double blind testing? Should bloodcresources be used for cosmetic purposes? At about 8k a procedure, its only available to the wealthy. Is this indeed is effective, is it ethical to give the rich a far better late life outcome than would be available to the rest of us?
Just heard an interview with a neurosurgeon. He claimed that there is a blood shortage and some cancer patients aren’t getting the transfusions they need. The above procedure is unnecessary, unproven and potentially dangerous.
It’s not clear to me that the “young blood” infusions are drawing from the general Red Cross blood bank supply so I’m not sure that’s a legitimate worry.
Stupid (given the lack of evidence for a “youth elixir”, and the remote but not zero possibility of getting an infectious disease or transfusion reaction from the “elixir”), yes. Unethical - probably not any more so than selling your plasma for $$ to the walk-in center, rather than donating it to the Red Cross.
It’s several years old, but this article talks about how the lower amount of blood needed by hospitals is causing a contraction of the business, lowering revenues and employment. It’s possible the doctor you’re referring to was talking about a temporary shortage.
Ethical as any other enhancement as far as I can tell. It doesn’t take anything away from anyone (please feel free to correct me if I’m wrong about this, but I thought donating plasma was pretty safe). It doesn’t seem any less ethical for people who can afford it than liposuction, gastric surgery, breast enhancement, facelifts, or any other surgery which the wealthy can afford and which direct medical resources away from people who can’t afford to pay for elective surgery.
I wouldn’t do it because I don’t think it would work, and I believe thinking something will work is a critical component of whether it actually does work.
My understanding is that the procedures you listed have been approved by the appropriate authorities after being studied. This process hasn’t been approved and is being studied by the guy who is doing the procedure. And charging the subjects. Lots of room for problems here.
PeterThiel is probably the most famous real-world resident of Silicon Valley to be interested in this sort of thing. He’s probably the inspiration for that bit from the TV show.
There are occasional local shortages, and certain very useful and/or rare blood types are always in demand, but overall we don’t really have a nation-wide shortage.
The notion of infusing the elderly with “young blood” is actually a fairly old one, and is no more likely to work now than it did back in the late 19th Century when I think this fad went around the first time.