Collection firm’s pay-for-plasma model under fire again

Critics are again taking aim at a private blood plasma collection company, calling it out for using financial incentives, rewards and bonuses to lure new donors through the doors.

Spain-based Grifols made international headlines in March when it was revealed two people died after making donations at the two Winnipeg plasma-donation centres it operates. Health Canada found in April the donations weren’t related to the deaths, a finding a Winnipeg family is disputing.

The latest criticism stems from an email former donor Thomas Rempel-Ong said he received last week offering him a “welcome-back bonus” if he returned to the clinic.

The timing of the promotion was troubling, given the deaths in October and January, Rempel-Ong said.

“Obviously, Grifols wants more people to donate… (but) you have to acknowledge the optics don’t look good,” he said Monday.

Rempel-Ong said it has been several years since his last plasma donation. The email, viewed by the Free Press, offered him an additional $20 — on top of the company’s regular compensation amounts, which vary by volume collected and frequency of donations — for his next visit.

“The need for plasma donations is especially critical right now and your contributions would have a meaningful impact to patients who rely on plasma-derived medications every day to survive,” the email said.

“Getting started again is easy.”

In a statement attributed to an unnamed spokesperson, Grifols said periodically offering welcome-back bonuses is a regular part of its donor engagement strategy.

The company offers a loyalty rewards program that offers extra compensation to long-term donors as well as referral bonuses and giveaways.

On Monday morning, one woman waiting for an appointment at the Taylor Avenue location said she was referred there by a friend who visits twice a week.

The woman said she was motivated by the bonuses paid to first-time donors and the person who refers them.

She said she was not concerned about any risks associated with the donation process, which is widely considered by health officials to be safe.

Health Canada investigated the two Winnipeg deaths and determined they were unrelated to plasma donations.

An autopsy revealed one of the donors, 22-year-old Rodiyat Alabede, had a pre-existing heart condition and died of cardiac arrest.

“It’s not a suggestion that this was a criminal act, but for them to deny that this was directly linked to her plasma donation is indefensible,” said Kat Lanteigne, a blood-safety advocate and spokesperson for Alabede’s family.

“Nobody is acknowledging what actually happened to her that day.”

Lanteigne said both Grifols and Health Canada have agreed to provide Alabede’s family with her medical records and investigative reports.

Health Canada said it would hand over those documents sometime this week; Grifols has not provided a timeline, she said.

Lanteigne accused Grifols of “gaming donors into selling their tissue” through its various promotions and financial incentive structures.

“They want people to donate as much as possible because that’s how they make their money,” agreed Noah Schulz, director of the Manitoba Health Coalition.

“Their model relies on high-frequency and high-volume donations.”

Some people who donate to Grifols do so because they need the money. Generally speaking, people living in poverty are more vulnerable and can be at higher risk of adverse health outcomes, Schulz said.

“We have no restrictions on how a company advertises to vulnerable populations who are essentially being lured in by the promise of money to sell their human tissue. Blood donation is not meant to be run like a casino,” Lanteigne added.

Both Lanteigne and the Manitoba Health Coalition have called for the province to ban for-profit plasma donations.

“This is also about profit-driven companies and what they will do to earn that profit, versus what a more accountable, public entity… would pursue,” Schulz said.

Canadian Blood Services signed an agreement with Grifols in 2022 to shore up the country’s plasma supply.

In a statement, Canadian Blood Services said it does not purchase plasma directly from the company but buys finished medications created with the plasma Grifols collects.

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca