Two people died after donating plasma at clinics operated by Grifols, and Health Canada has opened investigations. This article examines the gap between federal probe findings and inspection records that cite non-compliance, while advocacy groups press for an independent inquest amid questions about how often people may donate blood.
Health Canada documents fatalities in October 2025 (ET) and January 2026 (ET)
Confirmed fact: Health Canada received reports described as “fatal adverse reactions” following plasma donations in October 2025 (ET) and January 2026 (ET). investigations were continuing and that federal inspectors visited the plasma collection centres immediately after each reported fatality. Health Canada noted its records indicated standard operating procedures were being followed at the sites it inspected.
Confirmed fact: Both deaths occurred at facilities operated by Grifols, and in each case the donors went into “distress” while donating. Friends identified one donor as Rodiyat Alabede, who donated plasma in Winnipeg on 25 October; the context notes a second death occurred three months later at a different Winnipeg location.
Grifols centres and calls for a Donate Blood inquest
Documented pattern: Inspection reports cited non-compliance at at least one facility in Saskatchewan, inspected in January, where authorities found the site failed to “accurately assess the donor’s suitability. ” Inspectors recorded a total of 11 deficiencies at that site. Other inspection findings listed problems with validation, calibration, cleaning, or maintenance of critical equipment, and records that were “not always accurate. ” Those documented deficiencies stand alongside company statements asserting routine eligibility checks and strict operational procedures.
Confirmed fact: Grifols has said it has “no reason to believe that there is a correlation between the donors’ passing and plasma donation” and stated every donor undergoes an extensive health history evaluation and physical examination before donating. Canadian Blood Service said it monitored donor health and followed “the highest safety standards to safeguard both those who donate in our centres and the patients who receive blood products. ” For now, the documented inspection failures and the company assurances coexist without a resolved causal finding.
Documented pattern: Provincial health agencies were notified only recently despite the first death occurring nearly six months earlier, producing a timing discrepancy between the events and local notification.
Manitoba Health Coalition, Ontario Health Coalition and unresolved safety questions
Confirmed fact: Health advocacy groups have called for an independent inquest into the two deaths at for-profit collection centres in Winnipeg. The Manitoba Health Coalition urged an independent and fulsome investigation, and suggested that Health Canada’s licensing role creates a potential conflict of interest if it were the sole investigator. The Ontario Health Coalition supported the call for an inquest and said the contract between Canadian Blood Service and Grifols should be released to the public, noting that multiple sites across Canada had been deemed non-compliant after inspection.
Documented pattern: The Ontario Health Coalition highlighted an approval that allows Grifols to harvest plasma from a single donor up to 104 times a year, and said a meta-analysis indicates possible safety concerns with that frequency of plasma harvesting. What remains unclear is whether donation frequency, the inspection-identified procedural failures, or other factors contributed to the two fatal adverse reactions; the context does not confirm a causal link.
Open question: The context does not confirm whether the specific inspection deficiencies were present at the exact sites and times of the two fatalities.
If Health Canada or an independent inquest confirms that the inspection-documented failures in donor assessment, equipment validation, calibration, cleaning, or maintenance occurred at the sites where the fatalities happened, it would establish a direct connection between regulatory non-compliance at Grifols-operated centres and the deaths.
