Police in Canada are investigating the deaths of two people who died after donating plasma at a chain of clinics that has been under scrutiny by federal inspectors for failing to keep accurate records, screen donors or maintain its machines, reports The Guardian.
Critics say the country’s embrace of private companies to handle blood products reflects a “slow collapse of a system that has been the envy of the world”.
Health Canada, which regulates plasma clinics, said it had received reports from the clinics regarding “fatal adverse reactions” after donations in October 2025 and January this year, at facilities operated by the Spanish healthcare company Grifols.
In both cases, the two donors went into “distress” while donating.
Grifols said in a statement it had “no reason to believe that there is a correlation between the donors’ passing and plasma donation”.
Plasma, the pale yellow liquid part of blood, is used to create medications for a number of conditions, including haemophilia, and to help treat burn victims. But in recent years, Canada has faced stiff pushback over the extent to which Grifols, which operates 17 facilities in the country, has become enmeshed in the world of blood plasma collection.
The two donors had attended two different clinics in Winnipeg, but Health Canada said both clinics’ records indicated standard operating procedures were being followed.
Provincial health agencies were notified only recently about the fatalities, even though the first occurred nearly six months ago.
Grifols said: “Every donor undergoes an extensive health history evaluation and physical examination before being deemed eligible to donate. We strive to operate under strict operational procedures at the highest standard.”
According to federal inspection reports, one of the chain’s clinics in the neighbouring province of Saskatchewan was inspected in January and “failed to accurately assess the donor’s suitability” – one of 11 deficiencies that prompted inspectors to rate the site as non-compliant with Canada’s Food and Drugs Act and the blood regulations.
Other failures include “validation, calibration, cleaning, or maintenance of critical equipment ([that) were not always sufficient” and records that “were not always accurate, complete, legible, indelible and/or readily retrievable”.
Of the eight documented instances of non-compliance for blood inspections, which date back to 2016, facilities operated by Grifols made up half of all cases.
One of the Grifols facilities in Winnipeg, where a donor died in January, is the subject of a lawsuit after a donor said staff had used a faulty machine that damaged his blood, causing “non-reversible and permanent” injuries to his kidney.
Craig Loney said he experienced intense pain and blood in his urine after using a machine that separates the plasma from the red blood cells.
He later received an email from the company saying that a “machine error” had caused some red blood cells removed during the procedure to be “broken” and erroneously returned into his body along with the plasma.
The allegations have not been tested in court.
Grifols has asked a judge to dismiss the case and said in a court filing the donor was “fully informed of the risks” of the procedure and had consented to possible side-effects.
Questions over the structure of how Canadians give blood and plasma are set against the backdrop of a national scandal in which thousands of Canadians were infected with HIV/Aids and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1980s and early 90s.
The Royal Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada later made a series of recommendations.
It said Canada should aim to be self-sufficient in blood and blood products, but not by creating a commercial donor market, and that a voluntary system was the safest and most ethical model.
Canada does not produce enough plasma for domestic use, meaning it must buy its supply from abroad – most often from the US. For decades, Grifols has been one of Canada’s main suppliers of immunoglobulin, a plasma protein used to treat medical conditions such as autoimmune diseases and neurological disorders.
Only three provinces – Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec – have a ban on paid donations for plasma, but under a 2022 agreement in Ontario, Grifols operates as an “agent” for the Canadian Blood Services, meaning it can, in effect, skirt the ban.
Grifols pays up to £55 for each donation, and donations are permitted twice a week. Those who donate more frequently are enrolled in the company’s “super hero rewards” programme and can receive prizes and cash bonuses for every 10 donations made within six weeks.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Convalescent plasma: Optimal timeframe and donor profile
Calls for Big Pharma to ‘help pay’ UK tainted blood compensation
Use of technology can boost SA blood donations
Blood donor ‘man with the golden arm’ dies