America: The human plasma factory
Kathleen McLaughlin investigates the multi-billion dollar global plasma industry
The Documentary Podcast · BBC World Service
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Show Notes
Journalist Kathleen McLaughlin investigates the multi-billion dollar global plasma industry. Kathleen needs $15,000-a-dose medication to treat her rare autoimmune condition. While she sits for hours at a time, just down the block is one of over 1,000 blood donation centres in the USA extracting plasma, which forms an essential part of her treatment. Kathleen investigates the origins of her plasma-based medication and learns why people are resorting to plasma donation to stay out of debt, who is profiting from this booming trade and why the burden of global production is rooted in the US.