On March 13th, the Manitoba and Ontario Health Coalitions held a joint press conference responding to the recent deaths of two Manitobans after they had their plasma harvested at Grifols sites in Winnipeg. Grifols is a private, for-profit company that pays for plasma harvesting and sells byproducts on the international market.
Paying people for plasma donation undermines the voluntary system Canadian Blood Services relies on, raises concerns about the safety of the blood and plasma supply, and may now be connected to the deaths of multiple Manitobans.
Private, for-profit companies focus on profit first, and patients second. Profit has no place in health care for this very reason. Companies like Grifols incentivize frequent donations by paying people higher rates to give more, and give more often. Paid plasma thus preys on socioeconomically vulnerable individuals who are more likely to sign up to give plasma because of financial necessity. Such individuals are also more likely to be immunocompromised, nutritionally stressed, and living in conditions that elevate infection risk.
One of the deaths in Manitoba was international student and aspiring social worker Rodiyat Alabede, who was only 22 years old. International students pay over four times as much as domestic students in tuition in Manitoba and still do not have access to public health care in Manitoba – financial burdens that may have contributed to her need to sell her plasma.
This is supposed to be a safe procedure, provided that equipment is well maintained, staff are properly trained, and donors are appropriately screened for any complicating health conditions. We don’t know yet why Rodiyat and one other Manitoban died after donating plasma at Grifols – but these answers must be uncovered in a fulsome and public manner.
In Manitoba, it is up to the Chief Medical Examiner to call for a judicial inquest into a suspicious death. At the Manitoba Health Coalition, we believe such an inquest is needed in these cases. The investigation cannot be left to Health Canada alone, which licenses Grifols to operate across Canada.
Provinces have the power to ban the practice of paying for plasma donation – and British Columbia, Ontario, and Quebec have done just that. Without the power to remove Grifols’ license to operate in Manitoba, the province must use the legislative means at their disposal and move toward a provincial ban on paid plasma donation in Manitoba.
This is an urgent matter of public safety and cannot wait for the conclusion of a Health Canada investigation. MHC is calling for provincial action to ban paid plasma donation and strongly supports the need for judicial inquests into each of these deaths connected to donating plasma at Grifols in Winnipeg.
You can watch our full press conference with the Ontario Health Coalition below: