Tuesday, January 17, 2012

FDA Fines Red Cross Again for $9.59 Million–Where Does That Money Go?

I am curious about this as a year ago blood levels were at the lowest in 10 years and maybe it’s just me, but instead of big fine, would improving the system and getting more folks on board to get donations help?  image

Red Cross States National Blood Supply at Lowest Levels in 10 Years-Using Twitter and Social Networks To Find Donors

The Red Cross relies on donations and is a non profit right and does fining them fix anything?  BD 

“An average of 91 cents of every dollar the Red Cross spends is invested in humanitarian services and programs. The Red Cross is not a government agency; it relies on donations of time, money, and blood to do its work.”

The American Red Cross, the biggest U.S. supplier of donated blood, failed to correct violations of blood-safety rules, raising the risk that ill-suited blood will be used in transfusions, U.S. regulators said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration fined the Red Cross $9.59 million, according to a letter from the agency to the Red Cross made public on Jan. 13. The organization has been cited 14 times since 2003 and fined about $46 million for similar offenses.

The Red Cross didn’t ensure that all staff had adequate blood-safety training and hasn’t created a complete list of prospective donors who were disqualified from giving blood, according to the letter. The Washington-based consumer group Public Citizen this month urged the agency to levy sanctions.

The organization is “fully committed to meeting all FDA standards, has made significant progress in working with the FDA to comply with their regulations,” according to the statement.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-15/red-cross-cited-by-fda-for-u-s-blood-safety-rule-violations-for-14th-time.html

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