Blood Donation Scrutiny Grows After Two Deaths at Winnipeg For-Profit Plasma Centres
blood donation practices are under renewed scrutiny after a 22-year-old University of Winnipeg student died after fainting during a plasma procedure at a for-profit collection centre in Winnipeg, one of two recent fatal incidents linked to paid plasma centres in the city.
Blood Donation Centres and the Deaths in Winnipeg
Rodiyat Alabede, 22, who moved to Canada nearly four years earlier, fainted while visiting a Grifols plasma collection centre on Taylor Avenue and was taken by ambulance to St. Boniface Hospital, where she was found dead. A close friend said Ms. Alabede had signed up to give routine blood donations but the specific details of her visits were not known to him.
Her friend described her as funny, kind and devoted to helping vulnerable people in her West African community. After the incident, he said he was told only that her heart stopped during the plasma procedure: “All the doctors could tell us is that her heart stopped beating during the plasma procedure. “
Federal Review, Provincial Response and Next Steps
The federal regulator has been notified of multiple deaths tied to plasma donation centres and has reviewed reports reaching back a decade. A recent assessment identified a total of four deaths in Canada over the past 10 years, with three occurring in Manitoba, including the two most recent, and one in Quebec. The regulator’s current assessment has not identified a link between those deaths and the plasma procedures.
Grifols, which operates the only for-profit paid plasma collection centres in the country and has been a long-time supplier of plasma-derived products to Canadian Blood Services, notified the regulator about an earlier Winnipeg death on Jan. 30.
Manitoba’s government is considering a ban on accumulating plasma for pay as it weighs policy responses. The province’s health minister said the government will do everything it can to ensure families obtain needed answers. The premier noted that calling for a public inquest falls under the jurisdiction of the province’s chief medical examiner; the medical examiner’s office declined to comment.
Health Canada continues its review while families and provincial officials press for clarity on what led to the recent fatalities. Officials have acknowledged the limited public details available so far and families remain focused on obtaining fuller explanations.
