It's Official: Leeches Are Medical Applications
 (HealthDayNews, 6/29/04)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the commercial marketing of leeches as a “medical device” by officially approving their use for draining blood around skin grafts, a practice employed by plastic surgeons for decades. Medicinal leeches, which modern medicine had supplanted a hundred years ago, are again being recognized for their ability to efficiently clear blood from wounded areas to allow damaged veins time to heal. Specially bred, “clean” blood-suckers are cost-effective at $7.50 each and are well-suited to the task, releasing a natural anesthetic to minimize pain and hirudin, a blood thinner, to break up the pooled blood. Scientists foresee using leeches for other applications as well: German researchers have shown that they can reduce arthritic joint pain and Indian scientists have used them to treat varicose veins.