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
#2Although somewhat grotesque to many on the face of it, this seems like fundamentally a good thing. Poor people get money they need, and people with severe injuries get their lives saved.
I find it unusual there always seems to be an aversion to companies making money on healthcare (the emphasis on for-profit). This is weird, because no one would suggest companies should only be allowed to make money on irrelevant or trivial things; shouldn't companies that save lives make _more_ money than companies that just make entertainment, or manufacturing equipment?
Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers
#3Meanwhile, low-income Indians sell their kidneys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eny6D-7f_rc
The Red Market is an interesting/disturbing book on the organ trade, here's an NPR interview with the author
http://www.npr.org/2011/06/10/136931615/blood-bones-and-orga...
Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers
#4Although somewhat grotesque to many on the face of it, this seems like fundamentally a good thing. Poor people get money they need, and people with severe injuries get their lives saved. I find it unusual there always seems to be an aversion to companies making money on healthcare (the emphasis on for-profit). This is weird, because no one would suggest companies should only be allowed to make money on irrelevant or…
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...
Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers
#5Although somewhat grotesque to many on the face of it, this seems like fundamentally a good thing. Poor people get money they need, and people with severe injuries get their lives saved. I find it unusual there always seems to be an aversion to companies making money on healthcare (the emphasis on for-profit). This is weird, because no one would suggest companies should only be allowed to make money on irrelevant or…
What would be interesting is the relative profit made by the poor people vs the companies.
Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers
#6Although somewhat grotesque to many on the face of it, this seems like fundamentally a good thing. Poor people get money they need, and people with severe injuries get their lives saved. I find it unusual there always seems to be an aversion to companies making money on healthcare (the emphasis on for-profit). This is weird, because no one would suggest companies should only be allowed to make money on irrelevant or…
Is the share of the profit from this equitable though? Or do these companies take the lion's share?
Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers
#7Although somewhat grotesque to many on the face of it, this seems like fundamentally a good thing. Poor people get money they need, and people with severe injuries get their lives saved. I find it unusual there always seems to be an aversion to companies making money on healthcare (the emphasis on for-profit). This is weird, because no one would suggest companies should only be allowed to make money on irrelevant or…
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...
And if the alternative (not offering any payment) is simply not having enough plasma to manufacture the life saving treatments?
It's almost as if people who are donating this frequently should be properly screened and truly compensated for the value they are providing...
Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers
#8Although somewhat grotesque to many on the face of it, this seems like fundamentally a good thing. Poor people get money they need, and people with severe injuries get their lives saved. I find it unusual there always seems to be an aversion to companies making money on healthcare (the emphasis on for-profit). This is weird, because no one would suggest companies should only be allowed to make money on irrelevant or…
The grotesqueness is not about the donation itself, it is about people being so desperate under the current economic system that they have to resort to this
Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers
#9I donate every 2 months. I also encourage everyone who can to donate as frequently as they can. It's an easy way for anyone to play it forward.
* American Red Cross || http://www.redcrossblood.org/give/drive/driveSearch.jsp
I had a family member in a near-fatal car accident a little over 12 years ago. It took a lot of blood to keep her alive, and I'm thankful for everyone who donated and made saving her life possible.
That said, donating blood takes time and effort, and some recovery time where you don't feel 100% for a day or so after -- so I have no problem with incentivized / compensated altruism.
Re: Thousands of Low-Income Americans 'Donate' Blood Plasma to For-Profit Centers
#10Although somewhat grotesque to many on the face of it, this seems like fundamentally a good thing. Poor people get money they need, and people with severe injuries get their lives saved. I find it unusual there always seems to be an aversion to companies making money on healthcare (the emphasis on for-profit). This is weird, because no one would suggest companies should only be allowed to make money on irrelevant or…
Is the share of the profit from this equitable though? Or do these companies take the lion's share?
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 not made too frequently.