Published
Video length: 66 min
Health: laboratories are competing for plasma, “gold in the blood”
Could there be gold in our blood? Yes, plasma! Rich in proteins, it is capable of treating rare diseases and it is also used in many medications in France. A market estimated at $31 billion in the United States. – (France 2)
Could there be gold in our blood? Yes, plasma! Rich in proteins, it is capable of treating rare diseases and it is also used in many medications in France. A market estimated at $31 billion in the United States.
Some compare plasma to gold, because this component of human blood makes it possible to produce life-saving drugs for certain patients. It’s gold too, because laboratories are waging a global battle to obtain it, with a major risk: that plasma becomes a commodity.In the United States, the milestone has been reached. Plasma collection is paid and laboratories are multiplying advertising spots to convince.
In Baltimore, a collection center refused France 2’s filming request. The journalist therefore entered with a discreet camera. “The first withdrawal is paid 40 dollars, the second 100 dollars and we have a special offer, 800 dollars for eight withdrawals in one month“, explains the reception agent. The laboratories have well understood the distress of those who come, because they cannot make ends meet, they open centers throughout the country, especially in disadvantaged neighborhoods, next to universities or even on the Mexican border.
104 samples per year
Clara-Robert Motta, journalist, investigated the subject for many years, she published “Gold in the Blood”, published by JC Lattès. “Every day, thousands of Mexican people cross the border on their tourist visas, twice a week, to donate plasma and for some people, it has really become a kind of income.“The samples are subject to numerous controls and no health hazards have been reported in the United States to date with this plasma.
What poses a problem, however, is the commodification of the body and the risks for donors. An American can sell their plasma up to 104 times a year, whereas the limit is 24 times in France. The French system is based on public centers, managed by the French blood establishment. In France, however, plasma donations are not enough to make all the medicines the French need.
