4 people died after giving plasma in the last decade, 3 of them in Manitoba: Health Canada

Four people in the last decade have died in Canada after giving plasma, and three of those deaths happened in Manitoba, Health Canada says.

The information comes after a CBC News investigation learned two of these deaths were reported to the federal regulator within four months of each other — one in October and another on Jan. 30.

One of the four deaths happened in Quebec. Health Canada did not say when that death, or the other Manitoba death, occurred.

All establishments that collect plasma must report to the federal regulator if a donor has experienced a serious reaction during donation or in the 72 hours following a donation. 

One of the people who died was Rodiyat Alabede, 22. She died on Oct. 25 after she went to an appointment at the Grifols Plasma Donation Centre on Taylor Avenue to give plasma, her friends said.

Doctors told her friends her heart stopped at the centre and she couldn’t be revived.

Little is known about the other person who died recently in Winnipeg, other than it happened this January after giving plasma at Grifols’ other location, on Innovation Drive.

Health Canada did not provide dates or specific locations of the two fatal reactions CBC hadn’t already reported on. CBC requested all fatal adverse reactions from Jan. 1, 2016, to present.

The fact three out of the four deaths reported to Health Canada in the past decade were in Manitoba needs to be carefully investigated, said Dr. Ryan Zarychanski, a Manitoba hematologist who specializes in blood disorders.

“It’s concerning, and an investigation to thoroughly understand what happened in those instances needs to occur,” he said.

Zarychanski pointed out that deaths after plasma donation are exceedingly rare. 

“When rare things cluster like this, it absolutely gives people a cause to pause and understand what is going on. Are protocols being followed? Is training occurring? Is there proper oversight and donor selection, as a policy would intend?” Zarychanski said.

“I think we have to hesitate before jumping to conclusions. But certainly, there’s a reason to look into these very carefully,” he said.

Grifols, a Spain-based company that specializes in producing plasma medicines, has over a dozen plasma collection centres in Canada.

The company said an internal review was conducted and “based on the information available at this time, we have no reason to believe that there is a correlation between the donors’ passing and plasma donation.”

The assessment of the two recent deaths is ongoing and no link has been made between the plasma collection and the two deaths, a Health Canada spokesperson said Friday.

Last week, after CBC News asked both Grifols and Health Canada to respond to the recent deaths, the company posted a policy change on its website.

It said beginning March 9, a person needs at least 48 hours between consecutive donations.

A Health Canada spokesperson said their policy as of 2019 was someone could provide two donations in a seven-day period, with a minimum two-day interval between the donations.

During a recent inspection, they found instances where plasma had been collected twice in less than 48 hours.

“Recently, the department has clarified to Grifols that the two-day interval must be no less than 48 hours. Grifols has since posted this clarification on its website,” a Health Canada spokesperson wrote in an email statement.

The location where the inspection occurred was not given.