It was an ‘invitation only’ meeting at a downtown Toronto hotel. The media were banished to the hallway. Inside, a handpicked group of people gathered, with no one sure who else was around the table. There was no official agenda, no list of the names of the presenters. The only record of the proceedings was […]
On behalf of Ontario’s registered nurses (RNs), nurse practitioners (NPs) and nursing students (BScN), the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) extends its warmest congratulations on your election as Ontario’s premier. As you know, RNAO is the professional body representing RNs, NPs and BScN students across the province. Premier, we would also like to take […]
Ontario is moving to become only the second province in Canada to ban payments for blood and plasma, but the Toronto-based business that is the target of the proposed law intends to begin limited collection of plasma next week regardless. The provincial Liberal government announced Friday that it would introduce legislation making it illegal to […]
Ontario Introducing Legislation to Prohibit Paying Donors for Blood and Plasma, March 14, 2014 – Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Ontario intends to introduce legislation to preserve the integrity of the province’s voluntary blood and plasma donation system. If passed, the new legislation would: – Prohibit payments to individuals for their blood and plasma including reimbursement […]
A pay-for-plasma clinic is opening a downtown Toronto clinic Tuesday to begin training staff in defiance of promised legislation from Ontario’s minority Liberal government that would ban it. Canadian Plasma Resources will have 15 staff — including medical lab technicians and registered nurses — at its Adelaide St. location and expects to have donors on […]
A company that has tried to establish three pay-for-plasma operations in the Greater Toronto Area says it’s halting a $400 million expansion planned for Ontario and taking it to western Canada due to this province’s intention to ban paid blood donations. Toronto-based Canadian Plasma Resources says it had planned to open 10 plasma collection centres […]
Ontario’s new health minister is going ahead with legislation to ban pay-for-plasma clinics —including one set to open in Hamilton. “We will be reintroducing this bill in the upcoming session,” said Samantha Grant, spokesperson for Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins. Bill 178, the Voluntary Blood Donations Act, was introduced by former health minister Deb Matthews […]
Health Canada has received an application by an private for-profit company to operate two plasma collection sites in Toronto. This comes on the heels of Canadian Blood Services closing down its last dedicated plasma collection site in Thunder Bay last week. The company, ExaPharma, appears to be run by members of the Toronto Iranian community, […]
“There is nothing for us to buy from Canadian Plasma Resources,” Sher said. “And what we are doing is expanding our own plasma collections and we already have relationships with fractionators where our plasma goes and we bring the finished drugs back into Canada for distribution to patients.” In the event Canadian Plasma Resources did […]
Money for blood can be a controversial practice anywhere in the world, but especially so in Canada. Yet Saskatchewan is set to open the first for-profit plasma donation clinic in the country. The tainted blood scandal of the ’80s looms large over the discussion of paid-for donations after upwards of 30,000 Canadians were infected with […]
The federal NDP wants Ottawa to ban plasma clinics that pay donors, but the Saskatchewan health minister says he’s OK with plans for one in his province. New Democrat health critic Don Davies says he’s worried about safety. “We’ve been down this road before,” Davies said in an interview with The Canadian Press. Read the […]
Nurses are the latest group to join opposition to a private, for-profit plasma donor clinic in Saskatchewan. Tracy Zambory, president of the Saskatchewan Union of Nurses, has written a letter to federal Health Minister Jane Philpott that says nurses believe the clinic poses a serious safety risk to the blood supply. Canadian Plasma Resources opened […]
A company that pays people for donating blood is about to open its first Saskatchewan clinic. Canadian Plasma Resources earlier tried to set up clinics in Toronto and Hamilton but the Ontario government moved to ban payment for blood, saying it would erode Canada’s voluntary blood collection system. However, the Saskatchewan government is welcoming the […]
A start-up company is looking to establish a new business model in Saskatchewan. In worsening economic times, that might seem like great news. But if their business model is one that takes advantage of people’s poverty and may undermine voluntary blood donations, then the prospect is far less appealing. Last year Canadian Plasma Resources came […]
On Monday, Philpott came under fire after NDP health critic Don Davies called on Health Canada to shut down Canadian Plasma Resources in Saskatoon. The clinic opened its doors last month offering $25 gift cards for every plasma donation. But a Saskatoon doctor isn’t convinced there’s a need for pay-for-plasma blood clinics and wonders whether […]
Blood plasma is the yellow fluid that remains once white and red blood cells and platelets are removed. It can be used in transfusions, although Canadian Plasma Resources is focused on providing plasma to make a variety of medical treatments, from helping people who have clotting disorders to some cancer medications. Critics say collecting plasma […]