Grifols, a for-profit blood donation company, is stopping donations at clinics throughout the country.
This includes the paid donor clinic in Whitby.
The pause starts on Friday.
It’s unclear when they will start collecting donations again.
Grifols provided this statement:
“For more than 40 years, Grifols has managed and operated plasma collection facilities globally; currently operating a network of approximately 400 plasma collection centres outside Canada, including extensive operations in the United States, Europe and Egypt. Throughout this period, Grifols has maintained an excellent regulatory track record, built on the highest standards of donor safety, plasma quality and regulatory compliance. In fact, Grifols has been praised for raising the bar in plasma operations to benefit the safety of finished product for patients that rely on these medicines for life saving treatments. Additionally, Grifols has implemented policies and processes that go beyond regulatory requirements to enhance donor safety and benefits patients. Grifols has had a long-standing history of transparent, constructive relationships with regulatory and inspection authorities across multiple jurisdictions.
In light of the unfounded attention that has been focused on compensated plasma collection, Grifols has proactively and voluntarily decided to pause plasma collection activities at all its plasma donation centres in Canada. This measure reflects Grifols’ continuing commitment to maintaining the highest standards of quality, safety and operational excellence.
The temporary pause will allow Grifols to work with Health Canada and Canadian Blood Services on the framework needed to support the continued development of a sustainable and robust plasma collection network in Canada to provide these vital medicines to Canadians without unnecessary reliance on imported product. Grifols communicated its decision to Health Canada on August 12.
Operations are expected to resume as soon as practicable in agreement with Health Canada and Canadian Blood Services.
Grifols confirms that donor safety and the quality and safety of the plasma collected at its Canadian centres has never been compromised.
Grifols remains fully at the disposal of Health Canada throughout this process and reiterates its commitment to an open, transparent and collaborative dialogue with the regulator. The company values the constructive engagement it has had with Health Canada to date and looks forward to continuing to work closely together for the benefit of Canadian patients.”
The temporary pause on plasma donations at Grifols Canada centres goes into effect Friday, August 14.
If you have found a spelling error, please, notify us by selecting that text and pressing Ctrl+Enter.
Source link
