Blood Processing Plant Crucial, Red Cross Says

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1995. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Blood Processing Plant Crucial, Red Cross Says

Toronto Globe and Mail (12/15/95) P. A8
Picard, Andre

To avoid a tainted blood tragedy similar to the one experienced in the 1980s, the Canadian Red Cross must proceed with construction of a $300-million fractionation plant, the head of the agency said. According to Douglas Lindores, secretary-general of the humanitarian group, if the organization loses control of the blood it collects from donors, it might have to leave the blood program. "We have serious reservations about our continuing willingness to operate a blood program, collection plasma under the Red Cross symbol, and giving up our stewardship in the view of the events in the 1980s," he said. Lindores noted that at that time, large amounts of donated blood were wasted because of a "highly politicized and highly inefficient decision-making process." Currently, the Canadian Red Cross and pharmaceutical maker Bayer Inc. are building the Canadian Red Cross Fractionation Corp, which is expected to save the blood program more than $400 million in the next decade. Consumer groups oppose the plant, claiming that it will inhibit their ability to get state-of-the-art products and that Bayer alone should construct the plant.

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