CTV News Calgary has reported:

A Calgary immunologist says Canada must protect patients’ access to plasma-derived medicines while ensuring donations are collected safely, as Health Canada reviews concerns at private clinics and Grifols’ Canadian centres remain paused. Dr. Luis Murguia-Favela treats people with rare diseases who rely on therapies made from donated plasma, including immunoglobulin treatments for people who cannot produce their own antibodies.

“It’s a matter of life or death for these patients who depend on immunoglobulin treatments,” Murguia-Favela said. His comments come amid scrutiny of plasma collection after two people died following donations at Grifols clinics in Winnipeg in October 2025, and after federal inspections found regulatory non-compliance at the company’s Calgary centre and other locations.

Plasma is the liquid portion of blood and makes up more than half its volume. It carries nutrients, antibodies and proteins, including clotting factors. Manufacturers can separate these components from donated plasma to make treatments for immune deficiencies, bleeding disorders and some autoimmune and neurological diseases.

Some of Murguia-Favela’s patients cannot make antibodies and face a higher risk of severe infections without treatment. Depending on the medicine, they may receive infusions once a month or treatment under the skin every week. Other patients experience potentially life-threatening swelling attacks. Plasma-derived medicines can reduce the risk of swelling that could block their airways.

The amount of plasma needed to make these medicines is substantial. “Treating just one patient with immunoglobulin for a year requires plasma from about 130 donors and a patient with hemophilia may require the equivalent of plasma from about 1,200 donors for a year’s treatment,” Murguia-Favela said.

“So, demand is really growing and we depend a lot on the plasma that is sent to us from the U.S.,” he said. He estimates that about 80 per cent of plasma used to make these medicines for Canadians comes from the United States, while Canadian donations supply about 15 to 20 per cent. Plasma-derived therapies depend on human donations, unlike some other medical products, and he said more domestic collection would help meet patient needs and reduce reliance on foreign supply.

The supply question has unfolded alongside concerns about donor safety and oversight at private collection centres. Grifols, a pharmaceutical company based in Spain, operates private plasma clinics in Canada. After deaths at its Winnipeg sites, the company temporarily closed its 16 Canadian collection operations last month, while Health Canada reviews safety and regulatory issues before any potential reopening.

Health Canada inspected Grifols’ Calgary centre on Sunridge Way N.E. in December 2025. Findings recorded in January 2026 identified 10 areas of non-compliance with federal regulations. Among them were cases where the clinic could not establish that donors met eligibility requirements, an incorrect deferral period for a donor who reported an infection, inadequate staff training and failures to put effective corrective measures in place.

Inspectors also found problems involving records, equipment maintenance, use of malfunctioning equipment, and the handling of accidents and errors. The inspection findings included donation bottles with incorrect labels and deficiencies in quality-control processes. Health Canada also identified non-compliance at other Grifols locations.

One of the Winnipeg deaths was that of Rodiyat Alabede, a 22-year-old international student. She died on Oct. 25, 2025, after becoming unresponsive during her first plasma donation at Grifols’ Taylor Avenue centre. The medical examiner attributed her death to sudden cardiac death resulting from dilated cardiomegaly, an enlargement of the heart, and classified the death as natural. The medical summary said there was no evidence that the donation procedure, equipment or products caused her death.

Health Canada’s investigation separately raised concerns about clinic procedures and staff training. In a letter dated Dec. 5, 2025, the agency required immediate corrective action at Grifols locations using a particular plasmapheresis machine. It said employees were not consistently following instructions on how to respond to high-return-pressure alerts, including when to stop a donation.

For Alabede’s donation, Health Canada found an alert recorded a pressure reading above the threshold in the machine’s operating instructions, but collection resumed. The agency also found that some alerts had not been documented. Those findings raise questions about whether staff followed procedures during the collection, but do not establish that regulatory violations caused Alabede’s death.

Katherine Lanteigne, a former executive director of BloodWatch.org and Alabede’s patient advocate, is calling for a broader investigation into Grifols’ practices across Canada. Lanteigne said the machine generated five alerts during Alabede’s donation and argued the procedure should have been stopped.

“The really important part to recognize is that Grifols Pharmaceuticals did not remove Miss Alabede and terminate her plasmapheresis process seven minutes in when the alerts on the machine were warning the technician to stop the donation,” Lanteigne said. She is concerned there may have been additional alerts because Health Canada found that not all were logged. She also pointed to clinical notes that she said documented Alabede convulsing and experiencing a prolonged seizure.

Health Canada identified concerns about staff responses to machine alerts and the recording of those alerts. Its review, however, found no evidence that the donation procedure, equipment or products caused Alabede’s death. Lanteigne said those findings should not end scrutiny of the company.

“We need an investigation into why this company was behaving in such a manner for years across Canada,” she said. She cited the Calgary inspection’s findings on donor screening and bottle labelling, as well as a case in Regina in which she said a donor’s questionnaire response indicating high risk for HIV had been changed.

“When you don’t screen donors appropriately, you put them in harm’s way. This doesn’t happen at Canadian Blood Services,” Lanteigne said. She questioned whether regulations were being adequately enforced and challenged the federal government’s position that paying people to donate plasma is not, by itself, a safety issue. “I clearly disagree,” she said.

Grifols says donor safety and regulatory compliance remain central to its operations. In a statement, the company said “at no point has the integrity of the plasma collected at our facilities been compromised.” It said it voluntarily paused collection at all its Canadian donation centres and submitted corrective action plans to Health Canada.

The centres remain operational while employees complete quality training and readiness work, with collections expected to resume “as soon as feasible in alignment with Health Canada.” Grifols said it has changed operating procedures, documentation, employee training and supervision, staffing, quality reviews and operational oversight.

The company offered condolences to Alabede’s family and friends, calling her death “a tragic loss of life.” It rejected claims that plasma donation contributed to her death, citing conclusions from Manitoba’s Chief Medical Examiner and Health Canada.

“Following its investigation, Manitoba’s Chief Medical Examiner stated it would be irresponsible to link Ms. Alabede’s death to the donation process,” the statement said. “Health Canada conducted its own review and found no connection between her death and plasma donation. Suggesting otherwise is false and disregards the findings of the authorities tasked with determining cause of death and regulating plasma collection in Canada,” the company said.

Lanteigne disputed Grifols’ response and accused it of denying evidence and failing to accept responsibility. “The company is denying medical and scientific evidence and trying to whitewash a circumstance,” she said. “We have all of this documentation that was provided to Health Canada and in my view, it makes them a very dangerous company, because it means that for any future adverse reactions, the company can just basically say anything they want and expect Canadians to believe them, which I don’t think anybody does.”

She said attention should remain on Alabede and her family. “The most important thing is to shine a light on what has happened to Miss Rodiyat Alabetti,” Lanteigne said. “It is deeply unfair.” Grifols said it remains committed to working with Health Canada and its partners to strengthen Canada’s supply chain for plasma-derived medicines.

Murguia-Favela said the controversy shows why safe collection and awareness of patients’ needs must be addressed together. He said Canadian Blood Services offers a national system for collecting donations and ensuring blood components are handled appropriately and directed to patients. Private clinics that compensate plasma donors remain closed while Health Canada reviews the safety and regulatory issues.

Murguia-Favela said incentives for donors are debated, but any donation system must operate safely and meet required standards. “We hope that we don’t need incentives for people to donate,” he said. “But sometimes when we need them, if that’s something that will make some mor