Why don't blood banks pay for blood?

[katka]

Because then you'd get a lot of people who are doing it to make some quick cash, which they then would use to buy drugs and alcohol.

I think that this is the reason, and if they start to refuse "obvious" drug/alcohol abusers they would face discrimination lawsuits. With volunteers, the blood is still sometimes tainted, but it would increase 10 fold if it were done for money.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Millennium

Originally posted by: MrDingleDangle

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
think about it this way. who's most likely to donate because of money? scummy people. scummy people are likely to be deseased people that might lie about having deseases.

well they do tests on the blood they could do it so you only get payment if u have good blood...like they send u a check...

<----donates for free and doesnt mind....but is also poor and wouldnt mind some extra cash 🙂

They do tests but it doesn't mean the blood is still not contaminated.

I have never heard of places that give you money for blood. Only plasma.

bingo. there is no garranteed test😛 look at tests for HIV, it only works months after you get HIV. would u take the risk with risky blood? ask all the hemopheliacs that died in the 80's from aids.

 

[Mill]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo

Originally posted by: Millennium

Originally posted by: MrDingleDangle

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
think about it this way. who's most likely to donate because of money? scummy people. scummy people are likely to be deseased people that might lie about having deseases.

well they do tests on the blood they could do it so you only get payment if u have good blood...like they send u a check...

<----donates for free and doesnt mind....but is also poor and wouldnt mind some extra cash 🙂

They do tests but it doesn't mean the blood is still not contaminated.

I have never heard of places that give you money for blood. Only plasma.

bingo. there is no garranteed test😛 look at tests for HIV, it only works months after you get HIV. would u take the risk with risky blood? ask all the hemopheliacs that died in the 80's from aids.

Yep very good points 0roo0roo.

 

[0roo0roo]

i think plasma is mixed in tanks too. so are other products. only whole blood stays separate. so one bad donation = one bad batch = bunch of pissed people.

 

[Babbles]

Anything that will get pumped into a human body must come from a donation.

It is against Federal law to get paid to donate blood/platelets.

People think they are getting paid are in actuality selling plasma, not whole blood.

I myself, donate like crazy. I do not donate as often as some of the folks in my neck of the woods, but in three years I am pushing the 3 gallon mark. They like my platelets though (used mainly for chemo/cancer patients) so my volume goes down, but I can donate like every 72 hours vs like 56 days.

I would highly recommend everybody donate their blood or even ask about platelets. Most folks don't know about that; also takes a few hours to do so not really a walk in walk out type deal.

 

[KK]

To encourage more people to donate, they should give some kind of receipt that you could claim as a tax credit.

KK

 

[Zebo]

Cause they don't want a bunch of strung out heroin addicts , who are already in peril, to rush in for quick cash and give thier potentially weak, possibly infected blood.

 

[brtspears2]

Ugh I feel weak reading this thread. But money would be a great incentive, perhaps a few GC's to popular stores or even a free pizza would lure me there.

 

[vegetation]

There's easy ways to weed out the junkies from just trying to collect the payment. If I'm not mistaken, the biggest reason they have donor shortages isn't so much that there aren't enough donors, but rather that they don't get the same donors coming in for repeat visits.

 

[brxndxn]

I used to donate plasma... and we always went to Chick-fil-A right before we donated.. Big mistake. I threw up all over the place right in front of a hot chick.. and the bad part about it? I was only halfway finished with the donation and they made me finish even though I was sicker n' hell.

Yup.. sitting next to your own vomit (I was sharing the chair with it while it kept creeping closer) sucks totally.

I even made $200 a month doing it... but screw that.. I'm not getting sick for plasma any more.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I work in health care & used to work in a plasma center, so my decade old knowledge is that it's against federal law @ this time to offer money for whole blood.

Hospitals charge for the blood you provide for your own surgery (a collection fee etc)

Plasma centers do not collect "whole blood" so are allowed to pay donors, even though they produce medical products from the donations: fresh frozen plasma, clotting factor, etc.

They produce clotting factor by pooling blood & that's what killed off nearly an entire generation of hemophilliacs with HIV. They currently heat treat the pooled plasma so it's less likely that the HIV virus survives.

The whole industry is closely regulated (blood & plasma) & the plasma collection is a nasty business, they are too motivated by profit to screen donors accurately & effectively. I actually walked away from the plasma center during the middle of my shift when I was lectured about not deferring donors who'd used IV drugs (as fed guidelines clearly state & the paritcular company's policies clearly stated), told them I wasn't for sale & went back to hospital based health care, still far from perfect, but we don't knowingly put large groups of people in danger.

 

[Zombie]

I remember in India we needed blood for my grandfathers surgery and the deal with RedCross over there was you get a blood donar card. So suppose I donate now but in future I need blood for myself or a friend/relative I can walk in and get that blood for free. Ofcourse I can only get as much as I donated no more but still a good deal in time of need right?

Almost like a even swap for different blood type.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: Zombie
I remember in India we needed blood for my grandfathers surgery and the deal with RedCross over there was you get a blood donar card. So suppose I donate now but in future I need blood for myself or a friend/relative I can walk in and get that blood for free. Ofcourse I can only get as much as I donated no more but still a good deal in time of need right?

Almost like a even swap for different blood type.

from what i remember about india ...bad stuff. they don't have enough donor blood to meet demand at all. they mainly depend on relatives of the person to come forward. many surguries can't start until this happens. many times people are paid. i think giving bloods a taboo or something.

 

[sciencetoy]

Back when I was a poor musician I used to sell my blood, AB. The crowd there (big cities, NYC, Boston, Chicago etc) was about what you'd expect, college students, poor people, a scattering of drunks and strange people.

Now that I'm a suburban executive type, I still donate. The local center gets a much different type of person giving blood than back in the 60's-70's. However, a lot of them are my neighbors so I know them. They may wear suits and boring clothes, but there are more drunks, drug users, crazies, people with illnesses who lie and say they're fine, etc. than back when I hung out in the more questionable areas. Because they dress nice they get accepted unlike some poor dude in torn clothes.

 

[Viper GTS]

I don't think it has been mentioned, but AFAIK only donated blood can be used in transfusions.

Blood or blood products that were paid for are only allowed for R&D.

Viper GTS