Work Day Minnesota: Plasma Centers Profit off of the Challenges Facing the Working Poor

Posted on: January 18th, 2019 by webmaster

June 26, 2018 MAPLE GROVE Claire (whose name has been changed for anonymity) has been donating plasma twice a week for three years.  “My husband and I lost our cleaning-service business three years ago,” the fifty-six-year-old said outside of her local BioLife plasma collection center. “The money doesn’t cover the whole month, but we need […]


The Guardian: My career as an international blood smuggler

Posted on: January 18th, 2019 by webmaster

For years, Kathleen McLaughlin smuggled American plasma every time she entered China, home to the world’s largest and deadliest blood debacle. She had no other choice. Learn more.


The University Star: Plasma donation centers exploit college students and the poor

Posted on: January 18th, 2019 by webmaster

College students frequently struggle to make ends meet and often live paycheck to paycheck. Some use creative ways to make extra money. Plasma donation centers are well aware of this and prey on students and other impoverished individuals to make a profit. Plasma is the clear liquid portion of blood that remains once red cells, […]


Salon: Medical companies are profiting from harvesting poor peoples’ blood

Posted on: January 18th, 2019 by webmaster

December 14, 2017 Donors hope to get $30 a pop for their plasma, but sometimes they aren’t even paid what they’re promised Here’s another example of wealthy corporations sucking poor people dry—literally. While many good samaritans donate blood or bone marrow out of good will, others sell their bodily fluids on a biweekly basis just […]


Maclean’s: A bloody mess: The story behind paid plasma in Canada

Posted on: September 25th, 2018 by webmaster

November 22, 2017 Internal documents show Health Canada working hand-in-glove with a private company to push a donation model the Krever inquiry warned against. Has it failed in its role as regulator? In February 2016, Canadian Plasma Resources (CPR) opened its first paid plasma collection centre in Saskatoon with a splashy media event attended by […]


CBC News: Canadian Blood Services says paid plasma clinics are harming voluntary donations

Posted on: September 25th, 2018 by webmaster

December 21, 2016 The head of Canadian Blood Services (CBS) says the agency plans to open dozens more collection facilities in the coming years amid signs it is losing volunteer donors to a for-profit clinic that pays people to give plasma. Canadian Plasma Resources, a private operator that gives gift cards to plasma donors, opened […]


The Province: B.C. joins Alberta, Ontario, Quebec in banning payment for blood and plasma

Posted on: April 29th, 2018 by webmaster

April 25, 2018 VANCOUVER — Payment for blood and plasma would be prohibited in British Columbia under legislation introduced Thursday. There are no clinics in B.C. that pay people for blood or plasma and the legislation is meant to prevent any from opening. Health Minister Adrian Dix said voluntary donations of blood through Canadian Blood […]


CTV News: B.C. joins other provinces in banning payment for blood and plasma

Posted on: April 29th, 2018 by webmaster

VANCOUVER – Payment for blood and plasma would be prohibited in British Columbia under legislation introduced Thursday. There are no clinics in B.C. that pay people for blood or plasma and the legislation is meant to prevent any from opening. Health Minister Adrian Dix said voluntary donations of blood through Canadian Blood Services help save […]


BREAKING NEWS: BC GOVERNMENT TABLES LEGISLATION TO BAN PAID PLASMA

Posted on: April 29th, 2018 by webmaster

VICTORIA – Health Minister Adrian Dix today introduced the Voluntary Blood Donations Act, which will help preserve the integrity of Canada’s public blood and plasma collection system by preventing payment for blood and plasma collection in British Columbia. “Our voluntary blood donation system is an integral resource that helps saves lives thanks to people who […]


The Star: More funding needed now to increase blood plasma donations

Posted on: February 7th, 2018 by webmaster

Paid plasma is the wrong solution for Canada to become self-sufficient in safe blood products. Voluntary plasma donations must remain legally protected in Ontario in order to safeguard the integrity of our blood supply. Securing a healthy mobilized donor base through our public blood operator, Canadian Blood Services (CBS), is critical to ensuring patients in […]


The Toronto Star: Safety of blood supply, not profits, should be Health Canada’s top concern

Posted on: January 2nd, 2018 by webmaster

By DANYAAL RAZA Opinion Mon., Jan. 1, 2018 As the snow falls and the mercury drops, Health Canada has found itself in some hot water. The trouble has been years in the making — since at least 2013. That was when Canadian Plasma Resources (CPR), a profit-seeking company that pays individuals for their blood plasma, […]


Radio Canada International: Close for-profit blood clinics, urge advocates

Posted on: November 23rd, 2017 by webmaster

In 1997, an inquiry into a catastrophic tainted blood crisis concluded that people should not be paid for blood donations, yet the Canadian government is about to approve the opening of a third, private, for-profit clinic. The Canadian Health Coalition says it has obtained documents that show officials of the government’s own health department helped […]


Maclean’s: A bloody mess – The story behind paid plasma in Canada

Posted on: November 23rd, 2017 by webmaster

Anne Kingston November 22, 2017 Internal documents show Health Canada working hand-in-glove with a private company to push a donation model the Krever inquiry warned against. Has it failed in its role as regulator? In February 2016, Canadian Plasma Resources (CPR) opened its first paid plasma collection centre in Saskatoon with a splashy media event […]


CBC News: New Brunswick MP Ginette Petitpas Taylor, named Canada’s minister of health in a cabinet shuffle Monday

Posted on: August 29th, 2017 by webmaster

‘A lot I can bring to the table’: 2nd New Brunswick MP joins Trudeau cabinet Ginette Petitpas Taylor, MP for Moncton, Riverview and Dieppe, named health minister in cabinet shuffle. New Brunswick MP Ginette Petitpas Taylor, named Canada’s minister of health in a cabinet shuffle Monday, says she will draw on her social work experience […]


The Globe and Mail: Ottawa approved for-profit plasma clinic despite warning from Canadian Blood Services

Posted on: August 25th, 2017 by webmaster

The Globe and Mail (includes correction) Published Tuesday, Aug. 01, 2017 9:26PM EDT Canadian Blood Services told the federal government in January that the voluntary blood-donation system could be at risk if for-profit plasma collection is allowed to proliferate – six months before Health Canada gave a green light to the country’s third paid plasma […]


The Globe and Mail: Blood agency seeking $855-million in funding to boost plasma supply, document reveals

Posted on: August 25th, 2017 by webmaster

The Globe and Mail Published Monday, Aug. 14, 2017 5:00AM EDT Canadian Blood Services is seeking $855-million over seven years to significantly boost the amount of plasma it collects from unpaid donors to make medications, according to a confidential document that summarizes the full cost of the effort. The national blood authority sent the provincial, […]