David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

named George Brecher—was skeptical.
But Freireich thought Brecher wasn’t
counting the platelets correctly when he
did his analysis. Freireich was
meticulous. He used a more
sophisticated methodology and zeroed in
on subtle changes in the platelets at
really low levels, and to him the
connection was clear: the lower the
platelet count, the worse the bleeding.
The children needed fresh platelets—
over and over again, in massive doses.
The NCI blood bank wouldn’t give
Freireich fresh blood for his
transfusions. It was against regulations.
Freireich pounded on the table with his
fists, shouting out, “You’re gonna kill
people!” “You have to be careful who