Hello!

Think of them as battle scars you earned saving lives

Thanks for doing it! (And sorry about the bruises)

Tell them that they don’t collect enough plasma and so rely on imports from the U.S.

(Also, Takeda is one of the largest Japanese companies that operates a fleet of Biolife centers in the U.S. now numbering 240)

Yes!

But also Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic allow it.

Oh, and LFB is a company owned by the French government that collects plasma in the U.S. (and obviously pays donors)

Thanks for sharing!
I’m a weekly (free) plasma donor (missed last weekend for a liver conference).
A few weeks ago, a plasma product recipient came and chatted with donors. Woa that was moving. A powerful reminder for why we donate.

Understood. I also have trouble doing it.

The way it works is that Grifols acts as an “agent” of CBS, and so can do it under the exemption from the ban on payment given to CBS in The Voluntary Blood Donations Act

Go on Google Maps and search for plasma centers near you. Then check their ratings. Many are great, some less so.

Thanks for thinking about doing it! It saves the lives of rare disease patients

That’s not quite right. BC doesn’t allow it. Only Manitoba had a paid plasma centre (since 1984), until Saskatoon got one in 2016. Then Moncton NB in 2017. Then AB repealed their ban in 2020, and now has 4 centres. Nova Scotia got two this year

And here is the rest of Canada (the recent jump in self-reliance is thanks to the Grifols paid plasma centres):

Here is Quebec’s self-reliance for immunoglobulin (one of the medicines made from plasma):

Quebec collects 27% of the plasma Quebec patients need. The rest is imported from the United States where plasma donors are paid

See here: giveplasma.ca/donors/book-...

Yes, you can. There’s a centre in Hamilton and one in Whitby. Soon, there will be more

We also now have centres that pay donors (www.giveplasma.ca) and that plasma is used to help Canadian patients. So far, we have increased our self-reliance to 27% thanks in part to these centres

In what country is this?

Conditions:

1. I will give up to $500

2. You must post a pic of you donating somewhere I can see (Bluesky is good, and you can tag me)

3. Only valid where legal (sorry Ontario and BC friends)

4. If you donate twice, I’ll pay twice etc.

5. Thanks for doing it!

The American Red Cross collects the same way as Red Cross Lifeblood in Australia (meaning: no payment). They have the same participation rate of around 3%

But the U.S. allows a parallel system that ensures rare disease patients all over the world get the medicine they need. Australia should too

There are about 23 plasma centres collecting plasma for Australian patients in the U.S.

peterjaworski.substack.com/p/americas-p...