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Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers

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Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers

#31

Post by kome »

Houshalter wrote: post #26

This reminds me of "The Copenhagen Interpretation of Ethics": http://web.archive.org/web/20160806191858/https://blog.jaibo... Our culture has a very strange belief that you shouldn't benefit from the less fortunate. Even if you benefit them too. People that have never donated a dollar to charity in their lives, will come out of the woodwork and complain about "exploitation".

"People that have never donated a dollar to charity in their lives" is a particularly American, or let's say anglophone, way to approach social justice.

Charities are based on good will, but "the less fortunate" do not need "good will": they need social rights. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_rights

If you don't see "exploitation" when people need and they are willing to sell their blood, I have no idea what you mean by exploitation.

Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers

#32

Post by chimeracoder »

sandworm101 wrote: post #29

The rules against paying donors in many countries can cause problems. Some people with very rare bloodtypes are in high demand. When someone needs that rare blood we could at least cover the traveling expenses needed to bring in the willing donor. But that just isnt allowed.

> The rules against paying donors in many countries can cause problems. Some people with very rare bloodtypes are in high demand. When someone needs that rare blood we could at least cover the traveling expenses needed to bring in the willing donor. But that just isnt allowed

For plasma, most countries meet their unfulfilled demand in part by buying plasma from the US.

That isn't allowed for all other forms of tissue, though, so the shortages for rare matches remain. This literally costs lives.

Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers

#33

Post by kgwgk »

chimeracoder wrote: post #28
kgwgk wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you donate sperm 100 times per day without affecting your health? I'm impressed! (Edit: assuming you're an sperm producing individual.(I was going to say 'man', but I don't want to risk offending anyone again.)) Seriously, egg donation seems to affect your health more than plasma donation. According to wikipedia: Birth control pills are administered during the first few weeks of the egg donation process to sync…

> Seriously, egg donation seems to affect your health more than plasma donation Yes, for a healthy individual, the act of donating plasma is about as risk free as you can get. Perhaps sperm donation is the only less risky live tissue donation. The reason we pay for it is that, if we didn't, we wouldn't have enough, and people would die. That's not speculative - countries which don't pay for plasma donation end up buy…

A minor clarification: plasma donation is not even about "live tissue". You get your blood cells back, only the plasma is taken.

Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers

#34

Post by Rasco »

dbg31415 wrote: post #11
DanBC wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People desperate for money, who may not have blood suitable for donating, are incentivised to lie. Meanwhile, men can't donate if they've had sexual contact with men in the past 12 months. http://www.redcrossblood.org/donating-blood/eligibility-requ...

Before it can be distributed and used, the blood gets screened and tested. We shouldn't be too worried about people lying having any impact on the quality or safety of the blood supply. * Blood Donor Screening || http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/BloodBloodProducts... > FDA has progressively strengthened the overlapping safeguards that protect patients from unsuitable blood and blood products. Blood donors ar…

What about the window between an infection by the HIV and the production of antibodies ?

Parent's argument doesn't seem to be irrelevant, otherwise, if the screenings were totally reliable why would we bother asking for risky behaviours ?

Lying is one of the arguments against paid blood donations in France, the other being that poor people may be incentivized to put their health at risk by donating to often (donations are anonymous). The WHO seems to advocate for unpaid donations :

> An adequate and reliable supply of safe blood can be assured by a stable base of regular, voluntary, unpaid blood donors. These donors are also the safest group of donors as the prevalence of bloodborne infections is lowest among this group. World Health Assembly resolution WHA63.12 urges all Member States to develop national blood systems based on voluntary unpaid donations and to work towards the goal of self-sufficiency.[1]

[1]http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs279/en/

Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers

#35

Post by maxerickson »

dbg31415 wrote: post #27
maxerickson wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's also lots of places where you can make an appointment to make a donation rather than showing up and waiting at a blood drive. Many are not affiliated with the Red Cross. At the one I go to it is about 45 minutes between walking in the door and walking out the door.

Post a link to help others find it. (=

I'm not aware of a directory of them. There are lots:

https://www.google.com/search?q=blood+centers

I suppose adding a city name to that search will be useful.

Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers

#37

Post by EliRivers »

kgwgk wrote: post #14

And thousands of men 'donate' sperm to for-profit centers. Which, truth be said, seems a convenient way to perpetuate your genes without all the hassle of the traditional mechanism. As long as your genes are 'desirable', of course.

Selecting for men who jack off into a cup for money. Who wouldn't desire those genes.

Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers

#38

Post by gravypod »

kome wrote: post #31
Houshalter wrote: post #26

This reminds me of "The Copenhagen Interpretation of Ethics": http://web.archive.org/web/20160806191858/https://blog.jaibo... Our culture has a very strange belief that you shouldn't benefit from the less fortunate. Even if you benefit them too. People that have never donated a dollar to charity in their lives, will come out of the woodwork and complain about "exploitation".

"People that have never donated a dollar to charity in their lives" is a particularly American, or let's say anglophone, way to approach social justice. Charities are based on good will, but "the less fortunate" do not need "good will": they need social rights. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_rights If you don't see "exploitation" when people need and they are willing to sell their blood, I have no idea what you…

Does that sentiment hold when your donations are to pro-bono legal firms?

Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers

#39

Post by peacetreefrog »

cloudsloth wrote: post #12
zaroth wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Equitable? The raw material is a far cry from the final product which required perhaps hundred of millions in R&D. If people are willing the give a unit of plasma for $7.50 and supply is meeting demand, it seems precisely equitable. The key question is that donating so frequently must be safe for the donor. If there's long term health implications then the firms have to coordinate if necessary to ensure donations are…

Showing that people are willing to pay a price does not make it equitable. You have to account for power dynamics and market conditions. I believe the original question was whether there was a relatively even or fair split of 'profits' from the current setup. One could make a case for this being even, and also for it being somehow relational to investment (blood from the giver, r&d + logistics from the receiver). You…

You're welcome to "make the case" for whatever you want, but this comment suggesting it's something in anyone's control belies what's really going on. The price system and "profit" splits aren't something any one entity (plasma doner nor company) sets down and decides. It (like most prices) is an emergent phenomenon. You might as well "make the case" the morning commute from downtown Chicago up to Evanston should be less than 35 minutes, it's pretty much irrelevant as to how it turns out.

Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers

#40

Post by daviross »

This was something I did twice a week myself, to help get through college. It worked well for being a way to get additional money in a way which worked with the rest of my schedule, though having income directly tied to health wasn't always great. (Have a minor cold? Now be knocked out of a week or two's deposits)
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