(March 14, 2026) By: Temur Durrani and Chris Hannay, The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n
Rodiyat Alabede had big dreams when she moved to Canada nearly four years ago at 19. As a high school student in Nigeria, living away from her family in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, she decided to enrol at the University of Winnipeg, where she quickly fell in love with social work.<\/p>\n
Funny, kind, generous with her laughter, and a devout Muslim, her closest friends say she wanted to help vulnerable people. She was especially concerned about fellow immigrants in her West African community.<\/p>\n
Paying bills was tough; she could attest herself to the high cost of living, recalled Ms. Alabede\u2019s family friend, Ifeoluwa Oyewumi.<\/p>\n
At some point last year, Mr. Oyewumi remembers Ms. Alabede signing up to give routine blood donations, though he didn\u2019t know the specifics. But soon after, on Oct. 25, a windy Saturday, Mr. Oyewumi got a call as her emergency contact about Ms. Alabede fainting while visiting a Grifols plasma collection centre. He was terrified.<\/p>\n
He rushed to Winnipeg\u2019s St. Boniface Hospital, where she was taken by ambulance, only to find her dead.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the doctors could tell us is that her heart stopped beating during the plasma procedure,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cWe still have no idea why. No answers. Nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms. Alabede, 22, who was expected to graduate university this year, is one of two people who have died in recent months after donating plasma at Grifols collection centres in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
Earlier this week, referring to the cases as \u201cfatal adverse reactions,\u201d Health Canada confirmed that it was notified of the other Winnipeg death on Jan. 30 by Spanish pharmaceutical company Grifols, which runs the only for-profit, paid plasma centres in this country.<\/p>\n
On Friday, the federal regulator told The Globe and Mail that a new review suggests a total of four such deaths have occurred in the last 10 years in Canada. Very little has been disclosed about those deaths.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree of the adverse reactions occurred in Manitoba, including the two that have been reported recently, and the other one occurred in Quebec,\u201d spokesperson Mark Johnson said in an e-mail, without identifying the deceased. \u201cTo date, Health Canada\u2019s assessment of these reports has not identified a link between the death and the plasma donation.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the regulator continues to investigate the matter, Manitoba\u2019s government is considering a ban on accumulating plasma for pay, said Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara.<\/p>\n
Asked whether the province would support an inquest to determine the cause of the deaths, Mx. Asagwara told reporters at an unrelated event Friday: \u201cWe\u2019re going to do everything we can to make sure that the families have all the answers that they need and deserve here.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the same event, Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew said calling for an inquest is the jurisdictional responsibility of the province\u2019s chief medical examiner, Dr. John Younes. His office declined to comment.<\/p>\n
Grifols has long been a supplier of plasma-derived products to Canadian Blood Services. But in 2022, CBS, which runs the blood system everywhere in Canada except Quebec, announced a partnership with Grifols to collect plasma. Grifols, according to its website, operates 17 centres in the country, including in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.<\/p>\n
A straw-coloured fluid, plasma is a component of blood used for transfusions and to make therapy products such as immunoglobulin.<\/p>\n
Donating plasma can take up to 90 minutes, as blood is taken then separated into its parts, before being returned to the donor as replacement fluid with parts that aren\u2019t plasma.<\/p>\n
At Grifols, donors are allowed to give plasma twice a week if they pass health screenings, and are paid between $30 and $100 per donation, depending on the volume and frequency. They are also paid $50 bonuses for donating 10 times within six weeks and $100 bonuses for donating 100 times within a calendar year.<\/p>\n
Shortly after Health Canada\u2019s confirmation of the deaths, Grifols posted a policy change on its website. Starting this month, donors must wait at least 48 hours between consecutive sessions.<\/p>\n
In an unsigned statement, Grifols told reporters there is \u201cno reason to believe that there is a correlation between the donors\u2019 passing and plasma donation,\u201d offering condolences to affected families.<\/p>\n
Paid plasma donations have been denounced by several public-health groups, who argue it incentivizes a frequency of collection that is detrimental to donors. But proponents say it is the only way to reliably collect large volumes of the fluid.<\/p>\n
In Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec, paying for plasma donations is banned, although Grifols has been allowed to operate in Ontario because of its partnership with CBS.<\/p>\n
Now, as Manitoba mulls a prohibition on the practice, local donors have mixed feelings about losing what has become crucial income during times of hardship.<\/p>\n
After learning of the deaths in Winnipeg, many donors at the two Grifols locations in the city expressed worries about vetting procedure and follow-up care.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to say it\u2019s about the money, but how could it not be?\u201d said Brian Friesen, 34, outside the busy south-central Grifols site on Winnipeg\u2019s Taylor Avenue, where seating at the waiting area has remained at capacity this week.<\/p>\n
He has experienced painful bruising and collapsed veins after donations, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know this is the same place where that young woman died. I know that. But all the people still here are going to tell you the same, if they tell you the truth: We need the cash.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the Grifols location near the University of Manitoba, Shawna Wiebe, 28, agreed. \u201cTo be honest, because I\u2019ve seen so many bad things here before hearing about these deaths, I\u2019m still not sure if I\u2019ll back out today at the last minute,\u201d she said, walking into the facility.<\/p>\n
Mr. Johnson from Health Canada said it conducted \u201consite compliance verifications\u201d in Winnipeg after the deaths. He said where non-compliance was identified, immediate actions were requested, though did not note what those actions were or when they would be completed.<\/p>\n
Noah Schulz, director of the Manitoba Health Coalition, said the situation shows the importance of transparency. His advocacy group and several others are calling for CBS and Grifols to fully reveal the terms of their agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese tragic deaths provide enough reason to end this predatory practice of collecting plasma for pay,\u201d he said Friday, alongside the Ontario Health Coalition and the Committee to Protect Ontario\u2019s Blood System.<\/p>\n
For Ms. Alabede\u2019s loved ones, who fondly called her Rody, her death has laid bare \u201chow little these systems care for their own donors,\u201d said her friend Chioma Ijoma.<\/p>\n
An Islamic burial was held for Ms. Alabede in November, Mr. Oyewumi said. But her mother, back in C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, is heartbroken, as she and most of her family couldn\u2019t be there, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast I spoke to her, she was just exhausted. It is the greatest sadness of her life to lose her daughter in this way, so young and with so much potential and hopes from all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n