Health Canada reports show paid plasma is not safe

The Canadian Health Coalition has responded to Canadian Blood Services Chair Dr. Brian Postl’s claims that there is no evidence regarding whether voluntary collection of plasma is safer than commercial collection. The claims were made in an underlined sentence in a letter to the Coalition on June 29.

In the reply to Dr. Postl sent on July 15, the Coalition notes serious compliance deficiencies uncovered by a growing number of Health Canada reports merits an end to paid plasma and to Canadian Blood Services’ agreement with Grifols to collect plasma. According to Health Canada, over the past decade, 92.5 per cent or 25 of 27 serious adverse reactions, experienced by plasma donors have occurred at Grifols-owned sites that pay people for their plasma.

On June 18, the Canadian Health Coalition’s Tracy Glynn presented before a meeting of Canadian Blood Services’ board of directors in Fredericton. In her remarks, she referenced studies and guidance from international health bodies that argue against paid plasma. She questioned why paid plasma is allowed in Canada when most countries in the world ban it.

Since the board meeting, it has been reported that Health Canada has found Grifols repeatedly allowing people who should have been ineligible to donate, including those at risk for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, to sell their plasma at their centres.

The Canadian Health Coalition supports strengthening domestic plasma collection to ensure long-term and safe supply and access, and firmly believes it can be done through voluntary collection.

Update: On July 15, 2026, the Globe and Mail published a response from Grifols in a follow-up story to its July 9 story about a Health Canada inspection report of Grifols’ head office, dated March 30. The inspection found internal documents showing some individuals being inappropriately cleared to donate plasma despite risks associated with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and its variant linked to mad cow disease. As reported by the Globe on July 15, Grifols’ responded to the Globe in an unsigned statement on July 14, stating: “No plasma was collected from donors with CJD risk factors that would have made them ineligible to donate, and no donor or patient was placed at risk.”

Grifols initially told The Globe the deficiencies noted by Health Canada inspectors did not meet their standards and it was taking corrective action, but it had not responded to the Globe’s question about what happened to the plasma of the donors flagged by Health Canada in time for the Globe’s July 9th story.

Health Canada told the Globe on July 15 that issues raised in its Grifols head office inspection “stemmed from Grifols changing criteria for donors who lived in certain countries that have a history of mad cow disease.”