Chicago, IL, November 15, 2002 -- The leading manufacturer of mercury-gravity blood pressure instruments today unveiled a public awareness campaign to counter efforts to remove the highly accurate mercury devices from hospitals. The campaign by W.A. Baum Co., Inc. focuses on the public health ramifications of replacing mercury sphygmomanometers, long regarded as the gold standard for blood pressure monitoring, with unvalidated aneroid and electronic devices.

The campaign kicks off with a full-page advertisement in the November issue of Circulation magazine, the official publication of the 2002 American Heart Association annual Scientific Sessions meeting, which begins November 17 in Chicago. Under the headline, "There Is No Substitute for Accuracy," the ad takes aim at the joint effort of the American Hospital Association and the Environmental Protection Agency to pressure hospitals to eliminate mercury sphygmomanometers, without a system in place to guarantee the accuracy of non-mercury devices, which are prone to decalibrate.

The ad quotes from a widely circulated editorial in the February 2001 issue of Hypertension magazine, co-authored by several leading cardiologists and blood pressure experts. "In healthcare institutions around this country and around the world, mercury sphygmomanometers are being removed. In many situations, the decision to replace the instruments is being made without significant input from involved clinicians or consideration of the health risks that will follow if they are replaced by less accurate devices," the article says in part.

At issue is the importance of accuracy in measuring blood pressure, accepted by the medical establishment as the single most important barometer of overall health. Hypertension is the No. 1 cause of death in the United States, and medical research has shown that a deviation of even 5 millimeters in blood pressure readings can have a devastating health impact for as many as 22 million Americans. Falsely high readings can mean medicating otherwise healthy patients, while erroneously low readings can lead to heart attacks, stroke or death for patients whose hypertension goes undiagnosed and untreated.

"The unilateral removal of mercury-gravity sphygmomanometers, without a system to ensure the accuracy of the aneroid and digital instruments that are replacing them, will have ramifications for the health of Americans far into the future," said John Baum, President of W.A. Baum Co., whose father invented the Baumanometer’ mercury-gravity sphygmomanometer.

Because the performance of mercury-gravity sphygmomanometers relies only on the weight of mercury and the force of gravity, which do not change, these instruments can operate accurately for decades without recalibration.

"You could probably find a mercury blood pressure monitor from the 19th century in a museum and it would be accurate," said Dr. Donald Jensen, an FDA engineer quoted by The New York Times in a June article about the controversy.

Aneroid and electronic instruments, on the other hand, decalibrate easily and frequently and require routine accuracy checks. Most manufacturers recommend recalibration at least every six months, but many hospitals do not comply with manufacturers' standards, which require returning the devices for factory adjustment. The Food and Drug Administration does not regulate compliance, and there is no system-wide process in place to ensure regular accuracy checks at the hospital level.

Dr. Clarence Grim, Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology at the Medical College of Wisconsin and a recognized expert on blood pressure measurement, has researched the issue. "We have reviewed the world's literature on mercury toxicity and could not find a single instance in which anyone has been harmed by the mercury from a manometer used in a health care setting," he has written for the American Society on Hypertension. "The actual risks of toxicity from the mercury in the mercury manometer seemed to be dwarfed by the consequences of the widespread use of inaccurate aneroid devices. Efforts to correct this problem should be undertaken by those interested in accurate blood pressure measurement."

Coinciding with the Circulation ad, Baum is also adding a new page to its web site compiling numerous print, audio and video sources supporting the continued use of mercury-gravity sphygmomanometers. The page will be accessible beginning next week at www.wabaum.com.

"This is really a David-and-Goliath issue," said James Baum, Vice President of Sales & Marketing for W.A. Baum Co. "With the weight of the EPA and AHA behind them, the manufacturers of non-mercury devices have a ready target in the hospital community. The health of the public should not be sacrificed on the altar of profit and convenience."

For more information about mercury-gravity sphygmomanometers and accuracy in blood pressure measurement, log onto www.wabaum.com or contact James Baum, Vice President of Sales, at (631) 226-3940.

Contact:
Julie Gross Gelfand
Harrison Leifer DiMarco P.R.
1-888-571-2500
In NY (516) 536-2020
jgelfand@hldcreative.com