There's been some pretty detailed studies that concentrations of plasma centers tend to collect in economically disadvantaged zip codes. So I wanted to get kind of a cross section of communities in the United States where larger than usual numbers of people sell their plasma. And the places that I found were all very different. Two of the major players in this business are not even, you know, a mom-pop industry. One is a Spanish company and one is an Australian company. These are really global pharmaceutical giants. The practice of selling your blood plasma to make ends meet has kind of become woven into the fabric of our country without policymakers stopping it.
Journalist and Author Kathleen McLaughlin discusses her book Blood Money: The Story of Life, Death, and Profit Inside America’s Blood Industry.
Hosts: Carol Massar and Jess Menton. Producer: Paul Brennan.
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