SIGN PETITION: "NO TO PAID PLASMA!!!"

SIGN PETITION: "NO TO PAID PLASMA!!!"

Postby Oscar » Wed May 04, 2016 12:08 pm

ACTION ALERT: SIGN PETITION TO FEDERAL HEALTH MINISTER:

[ https://petitions.parl.gc.ca/en/Petitio ... tion=e-126 ]

- - - - -

Nova Scotia, Keep Our Voluntary Plasma System Safe!

[ http://canadians.org/blog/nova-scotia-k ... ystem-safe ]

April 28, 2016 - 9:37 am

- - - - -

Pay-for-Plasma Panel Discussion in Halifax, April 25th 2016
Left to right: Angela Giles (Council of Canadians, Atlantic Organizer), Ian Johnson (NS Health Network, board member), Francoise Baylis (Canadian Research Chair for Bioethics and Philosophy), Kat Lanteigne (BloodWatch.org), Tori Ball (Council of Canadians Organizer), Katelyn Armstrong (NS Health Network, Volunteer Coordinator)


- - - - -

This past week the co-founder of Bloodwatch.org, Kat Lanteigne, was in Halifax as part of a cross-country educational tour. [ http://canadians.org/event/halifax-pay- ... discussion ]

Lanteigne’s trip included a public event co-sponsored by the NS Health Network and Council of Canadians as well a press conference with the NS-NDP Health Critic, Dave Wilson. [ http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId ... tPageNum=1 ]

Lanteigne and Wilson urged the Premier Stephen McNeil and the NS Liberals to vote on and pass Bill 43 - the Voluntary Blood Donations Act. “Nova Scotians do not want to see corporation buying and selling blood and plasma. Paying for plasma is a slippery slope” said Wilson. [ http://nsndp.ca/ns/ndp-calls-on-liberal ... on-bill-43 ]

The protection of our voluntary and safe blood and plasma donation system is (what is plasma?) is not a partisan issue. [ https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/Encyclop ... ntentID=37 ] This is not the time to politic a blurry line between “blood donation” vs non-remunerated donation, as suggested by Health Minister Leo Glavine’s statements in the Legislature. [ http://nslegislature.ca/index.php/proce ... e_16apr26/ ] This is a slippery slope whereby non-cash payment, such as Visa gift cards, could be used as payment and still abide by the World Health Organization’s definition of “voluntary” donation.

The myth that private-paid plasma clinics will benefit Canadians has been dispelled by several experts. “This is our public blood system that is being privatized for personal profits. It needs to be known that none of that plasma collected by CPR can be used for Canadians - it is for export only,” said Lanteigne. We need to follow the lead of Quebec and Ontario, which have both pass legislation on the issue. [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3498604 ]

CBC stated, “Quebec has forbidden the sale of human blood or plasma, and Ontario recently prohibited paying blood or plasma donors.” [ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c ... -1.3498604 ]

Health Canada continues to abdicate its duty to regulate plasma. Canadian Blood Services’ CEO Graham Sher said he “won’t rule out” the possibility of paying donors. This lack of provincial and federal leadership on the issue necessitates a groundswell of blood safety advocates, plasma donors and recipients, and concerned citizens to speak up for our plasma safety in the public interest. [ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/ ... e29774166/ ]

“[Y]ou are being asked to regard your own body as a passive income stream. Our governments are civilized; they won’t permit the commodification or privatization of the body unless you agree, and you can make a noise about this” reported Heather Mallick in the Toronto Star. [ https://www.thestar.com/opinion/comment ... PxwGOuLGBu ]


TAKE ACTION - Write! Call! Tweet!


NS Health Minister Leo Glavine
[ leoglavinemla@kingwest.ca ]
(902)765-4083
@nshealth


Premier Stephen McNeil
[ stephenmcneil@ns.aliantzinc.ca ]
(902)825-2093
@StephenMcNeil


Find your local MLA in Nova Scotia
[ http://enstools.gov.ns.ca/edinfo2012/ ]


Health Minister of Canada Jane Philpott
[ http://janephilpott.ca/contact/ ]
1-888-LIBERAL
@janephilott


Sign the e-petition to the Parliament of Canada - Open until May 17, 2016
[ https://petitions.parl.gc.ca/en/Petitio ... tion=e-126 ]


.@nshealth @NSLiberal #NoPaidPlasma in #NovaScotia keep our strong & safe voluntary system #NSpoli pic.twitter.com/khHEpLfPLU

Take a photo with our signs

• Print signs (PDF)
[ http://canadians.org/sites/default/file ... aSigns.pdf ]


Be informed

• Backgrounder on Plasma for Profit by Canadian Union of Public Employees – March 9, 2016

[ http://cupe.ca/plasma-profit-why-health ... collection ]

• Mythbusters: Paid Plasma by the Canadian Health Coalition – April 2016
[ http://healthcoalition.ca/wp-content/up ... gn-rev.pdf ]

• Open letter on for-profit blood collection from Maude Barlow, Canadian Doctors for Medicare and many more – July 28, 2013
[ http://canadians.org/content/profit-blo ... e-your-say ]


Read more: • Incentivizing You to Give: Plasma Bill Introduced in NS - April 21, 2016
[ http://canadians.org/blog/incentivizing ... roduced-ns ]


Tags: NoPaidPlasma

[ http://canadians.org/tags/nopaidplasma ]


Tori Ball's blog
Council of Canadians' Atlantic Regional Organizing Assistant.
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/tori-ball ]
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm

Re: SIGN PETITION: "NO TO PAID PLASMA!!!"

Postby Oscar » Mon May 16, 2016 4:12 pm

Zika virus a threat to blood supply in affected areas

[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/hea ... e29922955/ ]

CARLY WEEKS The Globe and Mail Published Sunday, May 08, 2016 12:00PM EDT Last updated Sunday, May 08, 2016 12:00PM EDT

Many countries battling outbreaks of the Zika virus are overwhelmed by efforts to control the mosquito population and spread of the infectious disease. But they also face the enormous challenge of trying to keep the blood supply safe.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is a “strong possibility” that Zika can be spread through blood transfusions. The CDC says there are suspected cases of Zika transmitted by blood transfusions in Brazil. During the 2013 outbreak in French Polynesia, about 3 per cent of blood donors tested positive for Zika. Because as many as 80 per cent of people infected with the virus don’t develop symptoms, many blood donors may not realize they have it.

There is still no way to reliably screen the blood supply for the Zika virus, although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved an investigational screening tool for blood donations in Puerto Rico.

The risk of infection in Canada is vastly lower compared with countries with local mosquito transmission. As of May 5, the federal government has confirmed 67 cases of Zika in people who travelled to affected regions and one case of the virus transmitted sexually in Canada. The mosquitoes that transmit the virus can’t survive well in our climate, so experts predict the biggest source of Zika infection will be from travellers returning from Central and South America.

Still, Canada needs to remain vigilant to keep the blood supply safe, said Dr. Mark Loeb, an infectious-disease expert at McMaster University in Hamilton.

“It’s a very important issue,” Loeb said. “That the risk might be low … for transfusion, but the consequences are extraordinarily high to pregnant women.”

To prevent contamination of the blood supply, Canadian Blood Services has imposed a three-week deferral for anyone travelling to a country where Zika is transmitted locally. Dr. Margaret Fearon, director of medical microbiology with Canadian Blood Services, says about 1 per cent of donors have been deferred as a result. Fearon said the peak time for Zika-related travel among Canadians is most likely the winter months, but that the deferral program could present a “challenging time” during the busy summer season when blood donations are often badly needed.

The vast majority of cases of Zika are transmitted by a bite from an infected Aedes species mosquito. While the virus has been around for decades in Africa and parts of Asia, it has more recently spread to other regions. Last May, Brazil had its first confirmed case of the disease and now the country is battling an outbreak of the virus and a surge in the number of babies born with microcephaly, or abnormally small heads, and other developmental problems. The World Health Organization says that as of May 4, 57 countries are dealing with mosquito-borne transmission of the virus.

Dr. Michael Busch, co-director of the Blood Systems Research Institute, in San Francisco, said contamination of the blood supply will be a “very serious problem” this summer in countries that have local mosquito transmission of the virus.

MORE:

[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/hea ... e29922955/ ]

= = = = =

More Related to this Story

• research New test could detect Zika in hours - May 6, 2016

[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/hea ... e29910804/]


• Canada confirms first sexually transmitted Zika case - April 25, 2016
[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/nat ... e29749332/ ]


• Two pregnant women among seven B.C. residents who test positive for Zika virus - April 19, 2016
[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/bri ... e29676595/ ]
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm

Re: SIGN PETITION: "NO TO PAID PLASMA!!!"

Postby Oscar » Tue May 31, 2016 10:50 am

SASKATCHEWAN TO REVIEW ORGAN AND TISSUE DONATION OPTIONS


Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2016 10:39 AM
To: SK NDP - WOTHERSPOON, T. - Leader
Cc: SK Green - LAU, Victor - Leader ; SK Lib. - LAMOUREUX, D. - Leader ; SK PC - SWENSON, R. - Leader ; CDN.GVT. - PHILPOTT, J.-Health ; CDN.GVT. - GOODALE, R.-Pub.Safety

SASKATCHEWAN TO REVIEW ORGAN AND TISSUE DONATION OPTIONS

Mr. Wotherspoon: (Please also see BACKGROUND below . . . .)

This so-called ‘review’ should shut down the paid-plasma Canadian Plasma Resource (CPR) establishment in Saskatoon which was given permits to operate by both federal and provincial governments – while attracting potential vulnerable clients all over this country with its $25-dollar ‘certificate’.

Except for Ontario, which kicked its ‘clinics’ out of that province in 2014.

In 1997, following the 4-year, $10 BILLION in legal claims and a criminal investigation, the Krever Commission recommended that the voluntary collecting blood and blood products should remain in the hands of the Canadian Blood Services - not become part of the $11 billion plasma world market.

I hope that the NDP MLAs will be able to convince Mr. Wall to reverse his decision to carve out the exemption from the Organ and Tissue Donation legislation which allowed CPR to exist in the first place and we will be free of its continuance.

Yours truly,

Elaine Hughes
ARCHERWILL, SK
EMAIL: tybach@sasktel.net
TELEPHONE: 306-323-4901


BACKGROUND:

"NO TO PAID PLASMA!!!"

[ viewtopic.php?f=39&t=3713#p5876 ]


Plasma for Profit: Why is Health Canada allowing paid plasma collection? - Mar 9, 2016
[ http://cupe.ca/plasma-life-not-profit ]
EXCERPT: Health Canada gave an operating license to Expharma/Canadian Plasma Resources to open the first paid donor plasma collection clinic in Saskatoon, which opened in February 2016. The company has stated publicly that it also has licenses pending in British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba. Bad ideas can apparently spread quite quickly.


Province moves to halt pay-for-plasma clinics - March 21, 2014
[ http://www.thespec.com/news-story/44242 ... a-clinics/ ]


Canadian Plasma Resources
[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Plasma_Resources ]


Krever Inquiry
[ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/e ... r-inquiry/ ]
The infection of thousands of Canadians with the AIDS virus and hepatitis C is Canada's worst- ever preventable public health disaster. It has also become one of its most prolonged legal sagas, featuring a high-profile public inquiry, almost $10 billion in legal claims and a criminal investigation.


The Krever Commission — 10 years later - November 20, 2007

[ http://www.cmaj.ca/content/177/11/1387.full ]
CMAJ November 20, 2007 vol. 177 no. 11 doi: 10.1503/cmaj.071333


= = = = = = = = =


SASKATCHEWAN TO REVIEW ORGAN AND TISSUE DONATION OPTIONS

[ http://www.saskatchewan.ca/government/n ... e-donation ]

Released on May 19, 2016

Health Minister Dustin Duncan will table a motion today that asks the Standing Committee on Human Services to review Saskatchewan’s current approach to organ and tissue donation, and recommend ways to improve the rate of donations. The intention to study the issue was outlined in the recent Speech from the Throne.

“There are still far too many Saskatchewan people waiting for a transplant that will improve their quality of life or even save their life,” Duncan said. “Sadly, some will not receive that call in time. That’s why our government has initiated this review.”

It is anticipated that in early June the committee will begin reviewing current efforts to increase donor rates in Saskatchewan, including the best practices in countries that have higher donation rates. The Standing Committee on Human Services consists of both government and opposition MLAs.

“As the Premier said earlier this week, this effort needs to be bipartisan,” Duncan said. “Our government looks forward to working with members of the opposition in order to come up with recommendations that we can consider and hopefully implement in the near future.”

Saskatchewan’s rate of organ and tissue donation is low compared to the rest of Canada and to many developed countries. There were 11 deceased donors in the province during 2015, from a population of slightly more than one million. Across Canada, the average deceased donor rate was almost 17 per million in 2014. Spain had 35 deceased donors per million in 2012, while France, Belgium and the United States achieved rates higher than 23 deceased donors per million.

At the end of March, there were 95 Saskatchewan residents still waiting for a kidney transplant. There were also 68 people waiting for a life-changing cornea transplant. One organ donor can save up to eight lives, and one tissue donor can improve the lives of more than 75 people.

“For someone with a damaged or diseased organ, a transplant is transformational,” kidney transplant recipient Professor Graham Scoles said. “Dialysis allows you to survive, but a transplant allows you to live. I hope this review results in an increase in donations by deceased and living donors.”

After a deceased-donor transplant in the 1990s, Scoles was able to resume full-time plant sciences research and lecturing, in Saskatoon and internationally.

The Saskatchewan Transplant Program has been in place since 1989. It is responsible for organ and tissue donation and transplantation services. The program prepares patients for transplants, provides ongoing transplant follow-up and also assists patients who need to go out-of-province for transplants.

Most kidney and cornea transplants for Saskatchewan people are performed in the province. Pediatric patients, or patients needing transplants other than kidney or cornea, are referred to transplant centres in other provinces.

It is expected that the committee will provide its recommendations for increasing the organ donation rate in Saskatchewan by November 30. -30-

For more information, contact:

Tyler McMurchy
Health
Regina
Phone: 306-787-4083
Email: tyler.mcmurchy@health.gov.sk.ca
Cell: 306-537-3594
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm

Re: SIGN PETITION: "NO TO PAID PLASMA!!!"

Postby Oscar » Thu Dec 22, 2016 10:37 am

Canadian Blood Services says paid plasma clinics are harming voluntary donations

[ http://canadians.org/blog/canadian-bloo ... -donations ]

December 22, 2016 - 11:01 am

The Council of Canadians has been opposing Canadian Plasma Resources opening for-profit blood plasma collection clinics since March 2013.

Now CBC reports, "The head of Canadian Blood Services (CBS) says [there are] 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 a collection facility in Saskatoon in February. 'There's marked confusion as to who is operating in the Saskatoon market', said Dr. Graham Sher, CEO of CBS. Donor numbers have also dropped in that city."

Dr. Sher says, "We've begun to see some early impacts of having this private, for-profit enterprise operate in our jurisdiction. It is early evidence, but it's certainly consistent with what other countries are seeing when you see large-scale ramp-up of the paid plasma industry side by side with the blood industry. We in Canada are at risk, if we don't collect more of our own plasma, that we're not going to be able to access the global supply of these plasma drugs. We have to collect more plasma, control it, and keep it in Canada for Canadian patients, which the private industry is not obligated to do. They will sell to the highest bidder."

The Trudeau government approved the private, for-profit plasma collection clinic in Saskatoon this past February despite opposition from the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, and the Council of Canadians, including the Regina chapter.

The CBC article adds, "Blood Watch, an advocacy group that represents tainted blood victims across Canada, [has] called on federal Health Minister Jane Philpott to revoke the licence for the Saskatoon facility. [They] would also like to see a moratorium on approving more paid plasma clinics. Canadian Blood Services is also lobbying for a moratorium."

Canadian Plasma Resources plans to open a for-profit plasma collection clinic in Moncton in March 2017. Clinics could also be opened in British Columbia and Nova Scotia. This past April, the Council of Canadians, Blood Watch and the Nova Scotia Citizens' Health Care Network organized a public forum in Halifax against for-profit plasma clinics. The Council of Canadians has also expressed its support for Bill 43, legislation introduced by the Nova Scotia NDP that would protect the voluntary system and prohibit the sale of blood and plasma in the province.

The Council of Canadians was also part of the successful broad-based effort in 2013-14 to ban for-profit plasma clinics in Ontario.

Council of Canadians health care campaigner Michael Butler says, “Plasma must be treated as a public resource, not an opportunity for pharmaceutical industry profits, There is no reason jeopardize the safety and integrity of our voluntary blood system. Public, not-for-profit, voluntary blood and plasma collection is the safest and most ethical method of collection."

To read more on this issue, please click here:
[ http://canadians.org/search/node/plasma ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm

Re: SIGN PETITION: "NO TO PAID PLASMA!!!"

Postby Oscar » Fri Jan 27, 2017 11:55 am

What a blood plasma-for-profit clinic means for public health care

[ http://www.macleans.ca/society/what-a-b ... eath-care/ ]

The federal government has quietly approved a plasma-for-profit clinic in Saskatoon, drawing fiery criticism from politicians, scientists and patients

Anne Kingston January 14, 2017

Three days before Christmas 2016, jingly seasonal music fills the air at Canadian Plasma Resources (CPR) in Saskatoon, located in a non-descript building in a quiet industrial stretch. In one direction, a strip of pawn shops; in the other, the Saskatchewan Polytechnic. Prospective donors are greeted by an artificial Christmas tree, a Purell dispenser and screening restrictions: medications they can’t be taking, that they must be between 17 and 61 years of age and weigh at least 50 kg. They’ll need SIN documentation, proof of a current fixed address, and government-issued photo ID. A young man is filling out a 42-question donor form, with queries from “At any time since 1977, have you received money or drugs for sex?” to “Are you aware of a diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease among any of your blood relatives (parent, child, sibling)?” Another 21 questions will be reviewed during a nurse’s examination.

Inside, the plasmapheresis room betrays no hint of holiday bustle: only four of 34 reclining chairs are occupied—three women and a man, all middle-aged. A TV plays overhead as straw-coloured plasma courses through tubes. A staff member ferries plastic containers filled with the golden liquid—the protein- and antibody-rich component remaining after white and red blood cells, platelets and other cellular components are removed—to the back for processing and freezing. For their time, typically an hour and a half, donors receive a $25 Visa gift certificate—or they can donate that amount to a charity for a tax receipt. Unlike full blood, which can be donated every two months (three for women), plasma can be given weekly. Frequent CPR donors are eligible for bonuses; “Super Hero Rewards” members qualify for monthly draws with quarterly draws for “silver” and “gold” donors with “prizes valued at over $2,000.” CPR’s recruitment techniques include social media and ads in university bathrooms. The location now has 800 registered donors, only 30 per cent of their 2,500-donor target, says CEO Barzin Bahardoust.

Canadian Plasma Resources is not Canada’s first paid plasma operator: the former Cangene in Winnipeg has paid for plasma with a rare antibody since the 1970s, and more recently has been collecting regular plasma. But the cascade of events surrounding CPR’s ill-fated entry into the Ontario market in 2013 put it in the crosshairs. CPR’s proposed locations, next to a Toronto men’s shelter and Hamilton methadone clinic, led to a public outcry and 2014 provincial legislation banning payment for blood products passed unanimously; Quebec has had a similar law since 1994. Police raids of CPR’s Toronto location and its threat to sue the provincial government, made headlines. Health Canada’s licensing of CPR’s Saskatchewan location in February 2016—and its proposed entry into New Brunswick this year and British Columbia thereafter, with stated plans to have 10 centres operational by 2020—has divided not only provinces, but patient groups and politicians as it exposes the backroom politics and economics that course through the once-public Canadian blood system.

The very mention of selling blood product resonates in a country scarred by the “tainted blood scandal” of the ’70s and ’80s. Bureaucratic negligence, regulatory malfeasance and corporate greed contributed to Canada’s greatest health care tragedy, one that saw more than 8,000 Canadians die—and more than 30,000 afflicted—from blood infected with HIV and hepatitis C. The details are horrific. Montreal brokers, who imported blood from Arkansas prisoners, relabelled it “Canadian blood” and then exported it, leading to hepatitis C outbreaks in Canada and internationally.

The resulting inquiry, a five-year investigation, produced a 1,200-plus page report in 1997. Justice Horace Krever referred to a “nationwide public health calamity.” Blame didn’t lie only with the Canadian Red Cross reacting too slowly to the AIDS crisis, [ http://www.macleans.ca/society/health/h ... t-started/ ]Krever concluded; it was systemic failure driven in part by the profit motive. His report recommended people “should not be paid for their donations, except in rare circumstances.”

The Krever report shaped the current volunteer-based public blood system: Health Canada is the regulator, responsible for blood safety. Canadian Blood Services (CBS) [ http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/heal ... -one-year/ ] and Héma-Québec were founded in 1989 to manage the country’s supply of blood and blood products. What Krever could not have anticipated, however, was the explosive rise of a market for plasma. Fresh plasma, collected from voluntary donors in Canada, is used for transfusions. Of this there is no shortage, with demand declining as keyhole operations require less and less blood. Demand is soaring, however, for “source plasma,” a raw ingredient pooled before fractionation, a processing technique that separates it into component parts for treatments: albumin for burns and trauma, factor VIII to help clotting in people with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders, and intravenous immunoglobulin (Ivig) for infections and immune disorders. The Ivig market is growing at an estimated eight to 10 percent a year, with Canada one of the highest per capita users. Ivig product can run $7,000 per treatment—and more than $200,000 annually. Plasma is the stuff of pharmaceutical alchemy: A donation that nets a donor $25 can yield pharmaceutical products worth at least $300, hence the proliferation of paid-plasma centres in the U.S., Germany, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

Patient groups dependent on plasma-derived drugs, including the Canadian Hemophilia Society (CHS), vocally defend the need for paid plasma. CBS and Héma-Québec already import plasma-protein products from the U.S., manufactured with plasma collected from paid U.S. donors, they note. Yet the matter is controversial, even within patient groups. Minutes from an April 2013 CHS meeting indicate the Ontario and B.C. chapters voted against paid plasma in Canada. The B.C. chapter subsequently lost funding from head office.

Safe blood advocates speak in terms of the integrity of the system: “Pay for plasma means a private corporation is owning some of the sovereignty over our public blood system and our donors and it is in direct opposition to Justice Krever’s landmark inquiry,” says Kat Lanteigne, co-founder of advocacy group BloodWatch.

There’s also concern that plasma collected by CPR will not ever directly benefit Canadian patients. CPR boasts a “Give plasma, give life” motto and offers assurance on its website that “by becoming a plasma donor, you can help Canada satisfy its own needs for plasma therapies.” But there is no guarantee, or legal requirement, that the plasma it collects ends up in Canadian hospitals or clinics. Currently CPR’s plasma is in limbo, sitting in a freezer while the company awaits the necessary licences to ship for fractionation or to bring the components back to Canada and sell them.

The irony of a for-profit plasma facility opening in Saskatchewan, the cradle of Canadian medicare, is not unnoticed. Sheri Benson, NDP MP for Saskatoon West, where the CPR facility is situated, heard about it when it opened in February. She wasn’t surprised the Saskatchewan Party-led provincial government gave a green light, given its openness to health care privatization. What alarmed her, she said, was the newly appointed Trudeau government—specifically Health Minister Jane Philpott, [ http://www.macleans.ca/politics/ottawa/ ... riorities/ ] a medical doctor—approving it: “I was disappointed that the decision was made by this minister of health, with her public health background and some of the rhetoric we’ve heard from the Liberal government about the importance of science and evidence.”

Minister of Health Jane Philpott and International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau speak to reporters in the House of Commons foyer on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 11, 2016, regarding investments in the global fight against the Zika virus. (Sean Kilpatrick/CP)
Minister of Health Jane Philpott. (Sean Kilpatrick/CP)

Michael Decter, a former Ontario deputy health minister and adviser to the Krever commission, also expresses dismay over the licensing. “I was enormously disappointed and upset,” he says. “The minute you enter a for-pay plasma element you begin to undermine the voluntary collection.”

That risk was made manifest on Dec. 21, when CBS CEO Graham Sher announced CPR’s Saskatoon operation was causing the decline in volunteer donations in the city. Two months earlier, in October, at Canadian Blood Services’ annual general meeting, Sher asked governments for “a pause of support for commercial activity” in plasma until CBS unveiled its own plan to increase plasma collection, expected this month. Canada currently only collects 17 per cent of the plasma it requires for plasma-derived treatments; the CBS wants that number to rise to 50 per cent.

The arrival of paid-plasma, the first human material Canadians can sell (selling sperm, eggs and embryos is prohibited) on the 20th anniversary of the Krever inquiry, tests the country’s commitment to public health care, says Matthew Herder, an associate professor of medicine and law at Dalhousie University: “Certainly it raises pretty dark questions about the tainted blood scandal and how seriously we continue to pay attention to what went wrong.”

Canadian Plasma Resources was a company born of confidence in governments’ appetite for a for-profit plasma industry. Its parent company, ExaPharma, is owned and operated by the Riahi family which has experience in the global pharmaceutical industry, and was incorporated in July 2009, a month after its principals met with Health Canada. CPR was registered in November 2010 to “operate plasmapheresis centres.” In November 2012, it applied for federal licences with plans to open three centres in Ontario. Run by Barzin Bahardoust—who affixes “Dr.” before his name in reference to his Ph.D. in electrical engineering—it invested some $9 million in real estate and equipment, and hired staff, among them former CBS employees and veterans of the German plasma-fractionation industry. All was proceeding smoothly until early 2013 when media revealed the proximity of two centres to drug users and an indigent population, imagery that raised concerns over blood safety and paid-plasma companies exploiting low-income, vulnerable communities.

In response, in April 2013, Health Canada convened a closed-door, one-day meeting of “stakeholders”: patient groups, government, and the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association (PPTA), the industry group representing the $20-billion biopharmaceutical plasma-dervived therapies sector. No media was allowed. Activist Michael McCarthy, a hemophiliac who contracted hepatitis C in 1984 from tainted blood, was present. The meeting was a “sham,” he says. “It wasn’t an open and transparent process.” McCarthy, a senior adviser to former Ontario health minister Tony Clement, knows government manoeuvring: “It looked like an orchestrated meeting where the outcome was preordained,” he said. “You had CBS, the PPTA and Health Canada talking about, ‘All we have to fear is fear itself. Science will protect us this time around.’ ” What scared him, he said, was going down the same road that caused us to get into trouble in the ’70s and ’80s, with “Trust us, the science is good this time,” says McCarthy, also lead plaintiff for Canadians Affected by Tainted Blood. “And that’s not what the story was about. It was about making the same mistakes. This is the riskiest part of the blood system; this is where the money is made; this clouds people’s judgment.”

The Health Canada consultation process also summoned a charge of “policy laundering”—the term for governments manufacturing a record of support for a pre-determined policy objective—from health care policy scholars at Dalhousie. Writing in Impact Ethics, Matthew Herder and Françoise Baylis, a professor who specializes in bioethics, argued that claims made by Health Canada and CBS—among them “collecting enough domestic plasma to be self-sufficient in plasma products is not operationally or economically feasible with a volunteer model”—will eventually “become ‘the’ supporting evidence for subsequent claims in support of a pay-for-plasma policy.”

A voluntary program aimed at domestic self-sufficiency hadn’t been attempted, they wrote, noting Health Canada “cannot legitimately extrapolate from the experience of other countries that are culturally very different from Canada, do not have a similar health care system, or commitment to altruistic blood donation.” They questioned the lack of evidence to show a commercial plasma collection system would, in fact, ensure a sufficient supply of plasma products in Canada and asked Health Canada to “seriously explore alternative strategies to encourage and facilitate voluntary plasma donation.”

Anyone following blood politics will recall that by 2013, CBS was getting out of plasma collection, closing a centre in Thunder Bay in 2012, citing declining demand for transfusion plasma and inefficient collection costs. Sher appeared unworried about the negative effect paid-plasma centres might have on voluntary donations in a 2013 interview with Maclean’s, despite available data that suggested that indeed happened. CBS was then busy exploring the prospect of becoming the central depository for organs and tissue transplant in Canada, an initiative that failed to gel.

Paid plasma was a campaign issue in the 2014 Ontario provincial election; Exapharma/CPR created the Ontario Plasma Coalition, spending $209,060 to promote private plasma collection. Bahardoust’s testimony in December 2014 to Ontario’s standing committee on social policy looking at paid plasma promised “a $400-million investment in Ontario to open 10 plasma collection centres and to build and operate a fractionation plant with strategic partner Biotest AG.” He spoke of 2,000 new manufacturing jobs for skilled workers being lost to the province: “Now the investment and jobs will go to those provinces where we have agreements to operate, beginning in Western Canada.” That month, Ontario banned payment for blood and Health Canada licensed two CPR facilities in Ontario that would never open.

By then, CPR had brought in lobbyist Jim Pimblett, a former adviser to former prime minster Paul Martin and Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff, who travelled the country to ignite interest in the economic benefits of paid plasma. Alberta and Nova Scotia proved resistant, while Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick and B.C. were receptive. CPR’s meetings with premiers and health ministers included two board members from Biotest AG. According to a Freedom of Information request, CPR met with B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake in November 2014 to discuss CPR’s proposal “to establish a plasma-based pharmaceutical business in B.C. employing more than a thousand people.” An email from Pimblett to the government refers to Biotest, a German-based multinational, as a CPR “investor.” Biotest runs 13 plasma collection centres in Europe and 22 in the U.S. and has major fractionation capacity. It also has deep pockets, with reported 2015 revenues of $825.6 million. In an email to Maclean’s, Pimblett says he “erred” in calling Biotest an investor: “Biotest is not a shareholder or investor in [CPR] and they never have been.” He adds “there were discussions about Biotest having an option to invest but Biotest ultimately chose not to pursue it . . . I must have incorrectly characterized the discussions between the companies as complete when they were not.” CPR and Biotest AG have “a strategic partnership, Pimblett writes, in which CPR “supplies Biotest with plasma for fractionation, and Biotest in turn provides [CPR] with finished pharmaceutical products for the Canadian market while they build fractionation capacity in Canada.”

Other emails obtained under Freedom of Information by the Saint John Telegraph Journal indicate Pimblett also met with Victor Boudreau, New Brunswick’s health minister, in April 2015 to establish “shared messaging” over possible public backlash regarding a proposed Moncton clinic close to the university. On Sept. 16, 2015, the minister sent a thank-you note to Bahardoust for meeting with business development agency Opportunities New Brunswick. He reassured him that “the government has not introduced, nor does it plan to introduce any new legislative or regulatory measures that would prohibit, or act as a barrier to this type of operation.” Boudreau declined Maclean’s request for interview.

B.C. Health Minister Terry Lake was so inspired by the meeting that he wrote an op-ed in the Vancouver Sun in April 2016, titled “Pay-for-plasma poses no threat.” He focused on potential jobs and said: “I’ve been assured by Canadian Blood Services that the technology and systems now in place— whether for products derived from public or private plasma donations—safeguard the supplies of these products.” Sher echoes the reassurance to Maclean’s. “Much of the controversy around the plasma file are premised on issues of historic concern around safety and stuff that occurred in the 1980s,” he says. “Those are not the issues today. We are not concerned about safety of plasma derivatives from paid versus unpaid donors.” David Page, executive director of the Canadian Hemophilia Society, expresses frustration when the issue of safety comes up. “This is not a safety issue and anyone who says it is doesn’t know what they are talking about,” he says. “Patients do not need to be told that products—and most products in Canada come from U.S. paid donors—are not safe.” As support for this view, patient groups and industry refer to the “Dublin Consensus,” a three-page paper established in a 2010 meeting in Dublin attended by patient groups and industry. Blood-safety advocates denounce it as an industry paper, arguing the gathering was organized by a plasma users coalition created by the PPTA. Sher defends it: “It is a patient and stakeholder form, not an industry form. Without access to the commercial for-profit industry internationally, there wouldn’t be sufficient plasma drugs to meet patient needs. That’s what Dublin says.”

Hemophiliac Curtis Brandell, who lives in Vancouver, disagrees. “By paying people for plasma over a long term you’re exposing people to risk because there are definitely pathogens that may come along that could possibly evade our new-found technology,” he says, adding: “If it is so good, why even test the blood?” Ivig drug labels themselves offer caution: “Product is made from human blood and may carry a risk of transmitting infectious agents,” says one.

Decter recommends caution. “Blood is inherently dirty,” he says. “We didn’t know what HIV was when it turned up. We didn’t know what hep-C was when it turned up. I’m a skeptic when people tell me that it’s all safe now. That’s not the precautionary principle and that’s not the history of blood where we keep finding new things that cause harm. I don’t mind being a Luddite on this one. Better safe than sorry.”

Health Canada’s authorization for the Saskatoon facility began on Dec. 18, 2015. The site was was inspected on Jan. 18, and a licence was granted on Feb. 2, 2016; it opened two weeks later with Health Minister Dustin Duncan in attendance. Pimblett coordinated supportive messaging with patient groups. Emails between him and the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders (CORD), obtained by Maclean’s, reveal the organization asking Pimblett to “submit on our behalf.” In the press release, CORD said it “appreciates the dedicated efforts of Canadian Plasma Resources to achieving this first plasma-collection facility.” Paid plasma is vital, says CORD president and CEO Durhane Wong-Rieger, who acknowledges CPR’s plasma may not benefit Canadians. “But it will add to world supply,” she says. In that world supply, Canadian plasma has high value, says Bahardoust, due to perceptions of the nation’s health. It’s common for blood patient groups to work with industry, Wong-Rieger says: “We all work with manufacturers.” Page says the CHS receives “substantial funding” from industry but remains independent in its governance.

CBS’s position on paid plasma has been erratic. In February 2016, CBS issued a statement expressing confidence in a dual voluntary-paid system while noting it would “continue to monitor these practices closely.” Then, in October, Sher called for governments to “pause” on commercialization. Two months later, CBS announced declining donations based on “anecdotal evidence that there’s brand confusion,” says a spokesperson, referring to staff receiving comments such as, “I donated plasma with Canadian Blood Services just down the road.” Bahardoust denies donor overlap: “There are only a handful of [CBS] regular blood donors who have joined our program out of the 800 plasma donors we have.”

Health Minister Jane Philpott has come under fire for the CPR licence in both the House of Commons and Senate, where she was grilled in November by Sen. Pamela Wallin, who asked why CPR’s licence was granted, given potential competition with CBS’s voluntary donors. Philpott waffled, referring to Canada as “having one of the safest blood supply systems in the world, in large part because there were serious errors made in the past and we had to correct our ways.” She then deflected responsibility to the provinces. Health Canada’s role is to ensure facilities are safe and regulated, she said: “The decision about a specific clinic, whether it can operate and whether it can compensate donors . . . with something like a $25 gift card for groceries, for example—those decisions are not made by Health Canada but by the provinces and territories.” She referred to the “Dublin Consensus” as evidence that “the blood supply in this country is safe and that plasma protein products used in this country are safe.”

Wallin responded that her concern was not safety, agreeing “standards are quite high,” but rather accountability: “Because several provinces indicated that they don’t support or like this activity, is there any reconsideration of this on your part in terms of licence-granting?” Philpott deflected again to the provinces, calling the matter one of “provincial jurisdiction.” Decter sees politics at play: “The federal government is trying to negotiate a health accord with provinces with disparate views on this issue; they’re not going to touch this issue. They should but they’re not.” The minister declined Maclean’s interview request.

In terms of CBS’s request for “pause,” Health Canada told Maclean’s via email it “will carefully assess the concerns raised by CBS, and will be consulting its provincial and territorial partners, in order to inform next steps.” In an interview, Liz Anne Gillham-Eisen, acting director for the office of policy and international collaboration, says the “pause” request was directed at the provinces, not the feds. When asked if anyone held ultimate responsibility for the Canadian blood supply, she answered it was run “jointly.” In a clarification, Health Canada writes that the blood system is collaborative: “In the case of an unforeseen or broader crisis that affected multiple parts of the system, the parties would use existing processes to address it collaboratively.” In other words, the blood-system buck doesn’t stop at any definitive place.

Blood Watch is not giving up, says Lanteigne: “Minister Philpott and Prime Minister Trudeau are in for the fight of their lives; there is no way we will stand down on this issue and allow our blood system to be sold off—or that of the sovereignty of our donors—so that a private company can make a profit and exploit vulnerable Canadians.” Bahardoust is confident future licences will be granted: “We are not really concerned on the federal level,” he says.

Back in Ottawa, Philpott ended her questioning in the Senate with a plea to give blood and plasma: “It’s really unfortunate that we can’t manage to get voluntary donations to meet the very serious need for plasma protein products, so I encourage all senators to find ways to donate blood and plasma as soon as possible,” she said. Where Canadians should go to make these precious donations was left unsaid.

= = = =

Related: Should we pay for blood?
[ http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/shou ... for-blood/ ]

= = = = =

Canadian Blood Services proposes ambitious plan to ensure a secure supply of Canadian plasma for immune globulin

[ https://blood.ca/en/media/canadian-bloo ... e-globulin ]

Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2017

Canadian Blood Services has shared an ambitious plan with governments outlining how we will ensure a safe and secure supply of plasma needed to manufacture immune globulin (Ig) for Canadian patients. The plan provides a roadmap for significantly increasing the amount of plasma we collect from Canadian donors, as per our voluntary, non-remunerated (unpaid), publicly funded collections model.

Canada is self-sufficient in plasma for transfusions. However, we only collect enough plasma to meet about 17 per cent of the demand for Ig, a critical lifesaving drug. Our goal is to increase Canada’s plasma sufficiency for Ig to 50 per cent. This would mean half of the Ig used by Canadian patients would be made from Canadian plasma.

What will this look like? By 2024, this could mean as many as 40 new plasma collections sites collecting more than 600,000 litres (more than 866,000 units) of plasma per year. Upwards of 144,000 new plasma donors will be needed annually to collect the significant additional volume of plasma the plan calls for.

While our plan will take several years to implement, we are confident Canadians will recognize its importance and help ensure the needs of patients in this country are met.

MORE:

[ https://blood.ca/en/media/canadian-bloo ... e-globulin ]
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm

Re: SIGN PETITION: "NO TO PAID PLASMA!!!"

Postby Oscar » Wed Mar 01, 2017 11:47 am

Comox Valley chapter opposes for-profit, pay-for-plasma collection clinics

[ http://canadians.org/blog/comox-valley- ... on-clinics ]

March 1, 2017 - 8:06 am

The Council of Canadians Comox Valley chapter opposes privately-owned, for-profit plasma collection clinics.

In May 2016, the chapter tabled at the Village Market Day in Cumberland that draws many people. Afterwards, a blog by the chapter reported, "Interested passers-by signed BC Health Coalition letters to Health Minister Terry Lake asking him to ban pay-for-plasma clinics in BC. There were also letter writing tips and contact information for those who were interested in writing their own letters to the Minister."

Today, CBC reports, "The B.C. government came under pressure today to prevent clinics that pay for blood products from launching new operations in the province. NDP health critic Judy Darcy said only government intervention can ban the private plasma clinics from opening and draining the supply of blood at volunteer donor clinics. Darcy was joined at the legislature by members of the B.C. Health Coalition who [and its member groups] collected more than 6,000 signatures on a petition calling for an immediate ban on the pay-for-plasma clinics."

The Trudeau government approved the first private, for-profit plasma collection clinic in Saskatoon in February 2016 despite opposition from the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, and the Council of Canadians, including the Regina chapter.

Additional clinics are also being planned in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

In March 2016, The Coast also reported, "The privately-owned Canadian Plasma Resources has met with provincial government officials in Nova Scotia about opening pay-for-plasma clinics in this province. Canadian Plasma Resources’ CEO confirmed to the NDP that the Liberal government is supportive of the idea."

And on December 28, 2016, CTV reported, "A questionable private plasma clinic is getting closer to opening in Moncton, which would make it only the second of its kind in the country. While construction is expected to wrap up in the coming days, Canadian Plasma Resources isn't expecting to receive conditional authorization from Health Canada until the end of February 2017. If it’s successful, it will have to pass several inspections before it is fully licensed. If all goes to plan, the clinic could be open as soon as March 2017. New Brunswick Health Minister Victor Boudreau [has stated] he does not plan on blocking the private clinic."

That article gives the context that, "The company operates one clinic in Saskatoon, paying donors $25 per plasma deposit. Kat Lanteigne, executive director and co-founder of Bloodwatch, a not-for-profit organization which advocates for a voluntary, public Canadian blood system, says the notion is hurting the number of volunteers donating to Canadian Blood Services. Bloodwatch warns paid donations aren't always used to treat Canadians. In this case, private plasma is shipped overseas to be used in pharmaceuticals, though the company says it hoping to work with CBS in the future."

Council of Canadians health care campaigner Michael Butler says, “Plasma must be treated as a public resource, not an opportunity for pharmaceutical industry profits, There is no reason jeopardize the safety and integrity of our voluntary blood system. Public, not-for-profit, voluntary blood and plasma collection is the safest and most ethical method of collection."

The Council of Canadians has been opposing Canadian Plasma Resources opening for-profit blood plasma collection clinics since March 2013.

#nopaidplasma

Tags: chapters
[ http://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm

Re: SIGN PETITION: "NO TO PAID PLASMA!!!"

Postby Oscar » Sat Mar 04, 2017 10:28 am

Regina chapter to join Blood Watch for delivery of petition saying #nopaidplasma

[ http://canadians.org/blog/regina-chapte ... paidplasma ]

March 4, 2017 - 7:41 am

The Council of Canadians Regina chapter will join with the advocacy group Blood Watch to deliver petitions against paid plasma clinics to the Saskatchewan Legislature this coming March 8. Regina chapter activist Jim Elliott will join Blood Watch executive Kat Lanteigne and others to deliver the petitions.

Plasma is the largest single component of blood and contains over 700 proteins and other substances which are used to make medical products. These products are then used as treatments that can potentially help save the lives of people suffering from burns, shock, trauma, and other medical emergencies.

The Trudeau government approved Canadian Plasma Resources opening a private, for-profit plasma donation clinic in Saskatoon in February 2016.

And Saskatchewan's health minister Dustin Duncan has commented, "We need to be more self-sufficient as a country and I think that this is one way to increase our levels of plasma that is derived from Canadians." A spokesperson for the Saskatchewan provincial ministry of health adds, "Saskatchewan supports the involvement of the public and private sectors in the collection of plasma to meet this patient need."

But Dr. Graham Sher, head of the Canadian Blood Services agency, has expressed concern about these for-profit clinics.

About nine months after the clinic in Saskatoon opened, he said, "We've begun to see some early impacts of having this private, for-profit enterprise operate in our jurisdiction. It is early evidence, but it's certainly consistent with what other countries are seeing when you see large-scale ramp-up of the paid plasma industry side by side with the blood industry. We in Canada are at risk, if we don't collect more of our own plasma, that we're not going to be able to access the global supply of these plasma drugs. We have to collect more plasma, control it, and keep it in Canada for Canadian patients, which the private industry is not obligated to do. They will sell to the highest bidder."

And Lanteigne says, "Right now what's happening is that the private companies are actually putting Saskatchewan at a deficit supply. They're not helping us become more self-sufficient. And so we're very happy that Canadian Blood Services is speaking out, but the government of Saskatchewan and our federal government have to listen. Canadian Blood Services has the sole responsibility to [procure plasma]. And there's no legitimate reason why we should we selling the sovereignty of our donors away to a private company to make profit off the sale of plasma."

Blood Watch has also highlighted that Canadian Plasma Resources offers $25 gift cards to people to give blood plasma and that "this plasma is then exported to the US -- where it can be sold for up to $300 on the international market, reaping huge profits for the private company."

The Council of Canadians, Blood Watch, the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Saskatchewan are calling on the Government of Saskatchewan to revoke the licence for the Canadian Plasma Resources for-profit plasma donation clinic in Saskatoon.

The provinces of Ontario and Quebec have banned these clinics, but New Brunswick approves of them (a clinic is scheduled to open in Moncton this month), British Columbia is supportive of them (the company is now looking at opening its first clinic in that province in Kelowna), and Nova Scotia has expressed support for them as well.

Council of Canadians health care campaigner Michael Butler says, “Plasma must be treated as a public resource, not an opportunity for pharmaceutical industry profits, There is no reason jeopardize the safety and integrity of our voluntary blood system. Public, not-for-profit, voluntary blood and plasma collection is the safest and most ethical method of collection."

The Council of Canadians has been opposing Canadian Plasma Resources opening for-profit blood plasma collection clinics since March 2013.

#nopaidplasma

Tags: chapters
[ http://canadians.org/tags/chapters ]

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm

Re: SIGN PETITION: "NO TO PAID PLASMA!!!"

Postby Oscar » Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:01 am

Alberta to ban private, for-profit plasma collection clinics, other provinces should follow

[ http://canadians.org/blog/alberta-ban-p ... uld-follow ]

March 13, 2017 - 5:57 pm

The Council of Canadians has been opposing private, for-profit plasma collection clinics since March 2013.

Plasma is the largest single component of blood and contains over 700 proteins and other substances which are used to make medical products. These products are then used as treatments that can potentially help save the lives of people suffering from burns, shock, trauma, and other medical emergencies.

CBC reports, "The Alberta government introduced legislation Monday [March 13] to ban private, for-profit clinics that pay people for plasma donations. Alberta doesn't have any private plasma clinics but the government says it is only a matter of time before the industry looks to this province. Ontario and Quebec have already enacted legislation banning clinics that pay donors for plasma."

The Trudeau government approved Canadian Plasma Resources opening a private, for-profit plasma donation clinic in Saskatchewan in February 2016. The article notes, "Canadian Plasma Resources has been operating in Saskatoon for a year and the Alberta government believes the company intends to expand across Canada."

And it highlights, "Officials say the paid plasma clinic in Saskatoon has discouraged people from voluntarily giving blood. That has created worries about what will happen to the Canadian blood supply if private plasma clinics expand across the country. Private companies are under no obligation to keep their plasma in Canada and can sell their supply to the international market."

Our ally Blood Watch has also highlighted that Canadian Plasma Resources offers $25 gift cards to people to give blood plasma and that "this plasma is then exported to the US -- where it can be sold for up to $300 on the international market, reaping huge profits for the private company."

The Council of Canadians has opposed the clinic in Saskatoon and has also called on the British Columbia government to ban the clinics (especially given reports the company is eyeing Kelowna for their next clinic).

We will also be launching an online action alert shortly opposing the Canadian Plasma Resources clinic scheduled to open in Moncton, New Brunswick later this month.

We are also concerned that the Nova Scotia government appears open to these clinics.

Council of Canadians health care campaigner Michael Butler says, “Plasma must be treated as a public resource, not an opportunity for pharmaceutical industry profits, There is no reason jeopardize the safety and integrity of our voluntary blood system. Public, not-for-profit, voluntary blood and plasma collection is the safest and most ethical method of collection."

#nopaidplasma

Brent Patterson's blog
Political director of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm

Re: SIGN PETITION: "NO TO PAID PLASMA!!!"

Postby Oscar » Fri Apr 21, 2017 3:37 pm

For-profit plasma clinic in Moncton expects Health Canada final approval by early June

[ https://canadians.org/blog/profit-plasm ... early-june ]

April 21, 2017 - 9:06 am

The Canadian Press reports, "A controversial Ontario company that pays people for their blood plasma is set to begin recruiting donors in New Brunswick. Canadian Plasma Resources CEO Barzin Bahardoust says Health Canada has reviewed and approved the processes at their new Moncton collection centre, but inspectors still need to see it in operation before granting a licence."

The article highlights, "Bahardoust said they will use social media to attract about 30 donors, starting May 1, for the inspection period." Canadian Plasma Resources hopes to get final approval from Health Canada by early June.

The Trudeau government approved Canadian Plasma Resources opening the first private, for-profit plasma donation clinic in Saskatoon in February 2016.

Plasma is the largest single component of blood and contains over 700 proteins and other substances which are used to make medical products. These products are then used as treatments that can potentially help save the lives of people suffering from burns, shock, trauma, and other medical emergencies.

The Council of Canadians believes plasma must be treated as a public resource, not an opportunity for pharmaceutical industry profits.

Ontario and Quebec have enacted legislation that bans paying donors for plasma, while the Alberta government introduced similar legislation last month. We have also called on the British Columbia government to ban these clinics (especially given reports that Canadian Plasma Resources is eyeing Kelowna for their next clinic).

The Council of Canadians has been opposing the opening of for-profit blood plasma collection clinics since March 2013.

#nopaidplasma

Brent Patterson's blog
Political Director of the Council of Canadians
[ https://canadians.org/blogs/brent-patterson ]
Oscar
Site Admin
 
Posts: 9079
Joined: Wed May 03, 2006 3:23 pm


Return to Health/MEDICARE

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests

cron