Risky Donor Blood Cells Recall

Recently, there have been recalls involving blood products following the discovery that the donor posed a risk injury to any individual who may receive the product.  Typically, donors are screened to ensure that they are safe candidates to donate blood. It is not known why the blood products in the recall were distributed following the screening process. Given the traditional screening process, this problem does not usually occur. The following includes a list of the blood products that have been recalled in October and the reason for the recall.

• LifeSource, Glenview, IL, Red Blood Cells collected from a donor who emigrated from an area considered endemic for malaria, 2 units. Recall # B-2630-10; Platelets. Recall # B-2631-10.
• American Red Cross Southeastern Michigan Region, Detroit, MI Red Blood Cells Leukocytes Reduced collected from a donor for whom donor suitability was not adequately determined, 1 unit. Red Blood Cells Leukocytes Reduced. Recall # B-2586-10.
• American National Red Cross, Portland, OR Red Blood Cells Leukocytes Reduced collected from a donor for whom donor suitability was not adequately determined, 1 unit. Recall # B-2588-10.
• Talecris Plasma Resources, Inc., Fayetteville, Source Plasma NC Blood product collected from a donor who was illiterate, 1 unit. Recall # B-2599-10
• American National Red Cross-Greater Chesapeake & Potomac Region, Baltimore, MD. Red Blood Cells Leukocytes Reduced, which was labeled as JK(b-), but was collected from a donor who subsequently tested JK(b+), 1 unit. Recall # B-2604-10.
• Suncoast Communities Blood Bank, Inc., Sarasota, FL, Red Blood Cells Leukocytes Reduced collected from a donor who reported travel to a malarial endemic area, 1 unit.  Recall # B-2605-10.
• Blood Centers Of The Pacific – Irwin Center, San Francisco, CA, Manufacturer: Blood Centers Of The Pacific – Redwood City Center, Redwood City, Red Blood Cells Leukocytes Reduced collected from a donor who reported travel to a malarial endemic area, 1 unit. Recall # 2606-10.
• American Red Cross Blood Services, Saint Louis, MO, Cryoprecipitated AHF blood product collected from a donor whose suitability to donate was not adequately determined, 1 unit. Recall # B-2607-10, 1 unit.
• The American National Red Cross, West Henrietta, NY, Blood Cells Leukocytes Reduced collected from a donor whose suitability to donate was not adequately determined, 1 unit. Recall # B-2610-10, 1 unit.
• Community Blood Center of the Ozarks, Springfield, MO, Recovered Plasma collected from a donor considered to be at increased risk for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), 1 unit. Recall # B-2613-10.

The screening process for blood donors include a physical evaluation, medical history intake and testing for diseases that are transmitted by blood transfusion, such as HIV and hepatitis. Since blood products have a short shelf life, these products are always in high demand.

Burton Padove, Indiana and Illinois lawyer, is available to help those who are injured because of products that are recalled. He can be reached at (877) 446 5294.