A new Halifax clinic is compensating residents for blood plasma donations as part of an effort to diagnose and treat people with bleeding disorders worldwide.
Darcy Shannon, CEO of Drumlin Plasma, located on the corner of Hollis and Morris Street in downtown Halifax, said the locally-collected plasma is used to manufacture in-vitro diagnostic kits to detect diseases and infections worldwide.
Since opening in July, the location continues to receive donations. According to Shannon, a patient can be diagnosed with 1.5 millilitres of plasma — as one donation can provide anywhere between 690-880 millilitres.
“You’re going to positively impact the quality of life of over 500 people with one donation,” he said during an interview.
But not everyone is as supportive of for-profit companies collecting plasma in Nova Scotia.
Jennifer Benoit, provincial coordinator for the The Nova Scotia Health Coalition, says human blood should not be for sale. CKDU spoke with both parties to get a deeper understanding of the situation.
