A Red Cross PSA is making the rounds on TikTok, in which a user claims that the Red Cross sells donations to hospitals. But is there more to the story?
The video from TikTok user and social media influencer The Conscious Lee (@theconsciouslee) is a repost of a video Lee originally uploaded in 2021. “Did yall know this??” he asks in the video’s caption.
@theconsciouslee Did yall know this?? #RedCross #DonateBlood #FYP #donations ♬ original sound – The Conscious Lee
Lee says in the video, “Today I learned the Red Cross sells your donated blood to hospitals for $150 and then that hospital charges you thousands for a blood transfusion. I hate it here.”
Lee goes on to say he didn’t want to believe the post, so he did a bit of his own research. He presents an article titled, “Blood Donors Aren’t Getting Paid, But Their Blood Is Being Sold,” which suggests that the claim is true. “Blew my mind,” Lee says.
Lee then refers to a Slate article from 2006, which notes that, in the wake of being fined for its blood handling practices, the Red Cross announced it would pay the $4.2 million penalty with money it earned from blood product sales.
In conclusion, “Does the Red Cross really sell our blood? H*ll yeah, they do,” Lee says.
The video has garnered more than 837,000 views since Lee reposted it on Oct. 1. In the comments, users had a variety of reactions.
“Which is why I stopped donating!!” one user wrote.
“It’s the same with plasma donations. I got $60, but the company gets over $1000,” another user claimed.
In April 2022, PolitiFact rated the claim about the Red Cross and blood sold to hospitals as “mostly true.” However, there may also be some truth to the idea put forward by some commenters who pointed out that running a blood collection operation isn’t free.
According to the independent fact checker, the Red Cross sells blood to hospitals on a “cost-recovery basis” and the prices it charges hospitals for blood varies depending on location and other factors. The cost incurred by hospitals for giving transfusions also varies, as does the cost to patients.
PolitiFact quoted a Johns Hopkins University health policy professor who said the Red Cross cannot remain “financially stable” if it loses money when selling blood products.
The Daily Dot reached out to Lee and the Red Cross via email for comment.
