When you think about the fast growing bio-medical industry, the first name that comes to mind might not be Bob Abramo, but it should be. Owner of the famous Abramo Chop House, the Lahaina meat mogul is best known for his numerous food enterprises, not medical manufacturing. Nonetheless, Medimeat, his latest endeavor, is becoming one of the fastest growing medical businesses in Hawaii. Dozens of patients have received treatments with various products from the new company, and the demand for the company’s free-range, 100% organic heart valves and tissues is only increasing.
Abramo Holdings LLC operations manager Brandi Essen says that she can’t comment on specific cases because of privacy laws, but claims that close to a dozen Hawaiians are walking around with Medimeat heart valves, and dozens more have been helped by the company’s products. “We believe that in addition to being delicious, meat can be medicine, and we’ve been serving the best meat you can buy for the past 10 years. Now, we’ll help people get the best medicine as well.”
For many years doctors have used animal tissues, usually from pigs and cows, for a number of medical purposes. Patches made from animal pericardium, the membrane
surrounding the heart, were often used in cardiovascular surgeries in the past, and is still a popular option for those who can’t afford stem cell treatments. In addition to heart conditions, animal products are used for: hernia repair, surgical sutures, and numerous other general surgery applications. According to Essen, the demand for locally sourced medical tissues is on the rise.
She says,
“We believe in snout to tail medicine. Over 100,000 people are saved every year by cardiovascular surgeries using animal tissues. More than 100 pharmaceuticals and medicines derived from animal co-products are currently used to: help make childbirth safer, prevent blood clots in the circulatory system, control anemia, and help those suffering from asthma. Until now, patients really didn’t have a choice when it came to what animal tissues were put in their bodies. You didn’t know what sort of feed the animals ate, how cramped their living conditions were, or exactly what chemicals they were treated with. We figured that patients would like to have the same informed options in their medical care as they had in their dinner plans. It turns out we were right. The requests have been so high that we’re actually having trouble meeting the demand. We are expanding operations to ensure that everyone who is going through something as scary as a valve replacement, can feel confident that they’ll soon be walking around with a little Abramo care inside them.”
The Lahaina Medical Center (LMC) confirms that they have used Medimeat tissues in numerous procedures, and that there is a demand for tissues supplied by the company. However, they are quick to point out that all animal tissues used in medical procedures are collected under strict government guidelines, and insist that Medimeat tissues are not “safer” or “better” than other options. “This is a potentially dangerous marketing scheme and not a medical revolution,” says a LMC spokesperson. “I haven’t seen anything like this in my 20 years of medicine. Fads come and go, and there has never been a shortage of “medical concerns of the month,” but this Medimeat thing is a new one. We have people postponing possibly lifesaving procedures because they want to make sure that they get locally sourced heart valves. I can’t believe how many people have bought into this.”
Nonetheless, Medimeat founder Bob Abramo says he’s not surprised his tissues are in such high demand, and adds that he plans on expanding the company into home health and beauty products as well. Abramo says he became interested in medical applications for animal products after attending a conference on the subject a few years ago. “When it comes to medical uses for animals…well it’s like an all you can eat buffet. My butchers are the finest in the world. They’ve been trained to waste nothing when carving up an animal into its tasty bits, but it turned out we were leaving a lot of meat on the bone. When I leaned how many uses there was for what we were throwing away, or selling for animal feed, I realized that there was gold in those guts.”
Abramo says that he plans to expand operations to the mainland, and is thrilled that his passion for medical animal husbandry has resonated so well with the public. “If you wouldn’t eat it, you shouldn’t have it inside you,” he says. Despite Medimeat’s success in providing valves, tendons, and other various tissues, Bob says he’s still hungry, and plans to expand the business into the home health and beauty arena.
“In addition to saving lives, we want to save you time with our offerings. We’ve come up with some amazing things in our test kitchen combining health and beauty products everyone uses. I’m proud to introduce two new products to the Medimeat line: Abramo Wash and Bob’s No Stick Lotion. Luggage and bag space is at a premium for travelers, and surveys have found that campers are 25 times more likely to grill a meal than the average person. These products are designed for them. A shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and marinade, Abramo Wash is designed to set your mouth awash with flavor. Trust me, you won’t believe how good this stuff tastes. We use it in a number of dishes at the Chop House, and the response has been phenomenal. Put your favorite cut in a container of Abramo Wash, and you’ll have clean hair and plates. Our other product, Bob’s No Stick Lotion, is designed for campers and gilling enthusiasts. Nothing can dry out your skin like the great outdoors, and nothing is worse than watching a piece of meat tear into pieces because it’s stuck to your grill. Our lotion is the answer to both problems. It softens your skin, and prevents your favorite foods from sticking with one little dollop. Our lotion lets the true flavor of your meat stand out, while getting those grill marks that look so good. Whether it’s a life saving tissue, or a time saving product, Medimeat will be there to serve you.”
