Has the approval of private blood collecting been open and transparent?

Posted on: August 30th, 2016 by webmaster

No.

The public was not informed when this policy decision was being made. The story broke because the private plasma clinic, Canadian Plasma Resources, appeared beside a homeless shelter in Toronto and a journalist saw it while riding the streetcar in 2013.

“Big Pharma” of the plasma industry, the Plasma Protein & Therapeutics Association (PPTA), had lobbied the Federal Government behind closed doors in 2011. Health Canada made a decision without informing the public, doctors, nurses, patient groups, hospitals or Canadians.

The first time private paid-plasma collection and Canadian Plasma Resources was mentioned to the Board of Directors of Canadian Blood Services was in April 2013: the clinics had already been built.