Description

The highstakes true story of how an absentminded inventor and a downonhisluck salesman joined forces to create a onceinageneration lifesaving product Suspenseful storytelling helps us see and feel the struggle and frustration the sweat and tears Inspiring Robert Kolker 1New York Timesbestselling author ofHidden Valley Road

At the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu dramatized by the popular filmBlack Hawk Down the majority of soldierswho died were killed instantly orbled to death before they could reach anoperating tableThistragedy reinforced theneed fora revolutionarytreatment that couldtransform trauma medicine So when Frank Hursey and Bart Gullongwho had no medical or military experiencediscovered thata cheap crushed rock called zeolite had bloodclotting properties they brought it to the militarys attention The Marines and the Navy adopted the resultingproduct QuikClot immediatelyTheArmy however resisted It had two products of its ownbeing developed to prevent excessive bleeds one of which had already cost tens of millions of dollars The other Factor Seven had a more dangerous complication its side effects could bedeadly Unwilling to let its efforts end in failureand led by the highly influential surgeon ColonelJohn Holcombthe Army set outto smear QuikClots reputation

Over the course of six years Hursey and Gullong engaged in an epic strugglewith Holcomb for recognition Ultimately a whistleblower inside the Army challenged the Armys embrace of Factor Seven which resulted in a massive lawsuit led by the US Department of JusticeThe lawsuit focused further attention on the financial ties between the pharmaceutical company that produced Factor Seven and Holcombs research institute

By withholding QuikClotwhich later became the medical miracle of the Iraq Warand in the use of Factor Seven with its known lifethreatening risks of heart attacks and strokes the lives of countless soldiers were imperiled Using deep reportage andriveting proseIn the Bloodrecounts thislittleknown DavidandGoliath story of corruption greed andpower within the militaryand the devastating consequences of uncheckedinstitutional arrogance