Grifols, a huge global healthcare company, runs 17 paid plasma collection clinics in Canada— two of them in Toronto. Over this year and last year, inspections by Health Canada have uncovered serious deficiencies with Grifols’ internal operating procedures and employee qualifications. The results are deeply troubling as they call into question the company’s adherence to federal regulations, as well as its commitment to donor safety.
The inspections revealed a host of violations at Grifols’ facilities, most notably in Oakville, Ontario and Regina, Saskatchewan. In Regina, investigators found that the clinic drew a donor’s plasma two times in under 48 hours. This practice was a blatant breach of its federal charter. This incident represents a more insidious trend. In the last three and half years, Health Canada inspectors have identified four Grifols clinics that fail to operate within the strict standards already set.
Grifols makes money by operating as an “agent” for Canadian Blood Services (CBS) in Ontario, using social media marketing to lure recruits. To incentivize repeat business, the company reimburses clients on a sliding scale and provides bonuses for donating on a regular basis. The recent negative attention has raised questions about the safety and ethics of the company’s practices.
Health Canada further alleged that Grifols did not conduct and report accidents in accordance accident investigation and reporting procedures. “This should result now in the cancellation of their licences,” said Natalie Mehra, a healthcare advocate who has voiced her concerns regarding Grifols’ operations. She blasted the company for the violations, wondering why the company continues to see no repercussions for their repeated disregard for the law.
Things came to a head when 22-year-old international student Rodiyat Alabede died shortly after donating plasma at Grifols’ Winnipeg clinic. This tragic incident created an already charged situation. In response to inquiries about this incident, a spokesperson for Grifols stated, “We have no reason to believe that there is a correlation between the donors’ passing and plasma donation.” This statement has done little to soothe the public’s fear for donor safety.
A senior Grifols executive as well as testimony from the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Health. Today’s meeting is the latest in a series of hearings examining our nation’s pharmaceutical sovereignty. This meeting will most certainly focus on the company’s operational challenges and serious compliance failures.
In a reply to the inspection report, Grifols said it would correct the deficiencies “as quickly as possible.” A spokesperson emphasized that “donor safety and plasma quality” are the company’s top priorities and acknowledged the importance of adhering to Health Canada’s robust inspection framework.
Members of the health community remain skeptical. In Matt Strauss’s words, either something “remarkably statistically improbable” has happened or something very medically, medically wrong has happened. Linked to that increase, he said, were the recent deaths connected to human plasma donation.
