Red Cross raises blood prices

Humans need more blood. The Red Cross has been a provider of safe and available blood, but according to the Red Cross, they have not been charging realistic prices for the end product. While the cost of distribution, transportation and testing the donated blood raises 27 percent every year, the Red Cross is only raising the price 9.9 percent more. Through the years this cost absorbency has flung them into a $335 million debt and left them looking to revise the entire organization. \nThe Red Cross has found the answer in raising the blood prices for hospitals. Bloomington Hospital is predicting the start of elevated prices around July 1, though they haven't seen any changes yet. Tammy Larimer, the team leader for the Bloomington Hospital's blood bank, said that the "weight of rising blood prices will filter through to the patients receiving the blood." \nAfter blood is donated at the Bloomington chapter of the Red Cross on Seventh Street, it is transported to Louisville for necessary testing. These tests include detection of harmful leukemia-causing cells, AIDS and Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, which is the human form of mad cow disease and is fatal. The blood is then transported back to the area and redistributed, and the hospitals buy it by the pint. The actual numbers involved in price adjustments for the pints have not yet been announced. \nAccording to Blythe Kubina, the American Red Cross spokesperson, even though the Red Cross is committed to ending the blood shortage, they are designing a new geographical deferral policy, which will be active in September. The new policy will apply more stringent restrictions to the blood that can be accepted from donors who have lived in Europe because of the unknowns of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease. There have been 100 cases counted in Europe, and there is strong evidence suggesting that the disease is transmitted through blood. There is a long latency period, and a screening test has not yet been developed. Stephanie French, the communications manager for the local Red Cross, pointed out that "people might ask why we would increase the error of deferrals for Europe when there is a blood shortage. The Red Cross always errors on the side of safety when there is a question." \nThe rising prices for blood will pay for a new advertising campaign in addition to helping alleviate the debt, and researching and reacting to the Creutzfeld-Jakob disease. The Red Cross intends to increase their donor base and end the blood shortage with telemarketing tactics. \n"People will hear about it over their radios, see it on TV, read about it in the mail and they will get a call from a Red Cross representative," said Kubina. \nThe costs do not include blood alternatives, which would end the cost for contaminated blood testing. Synthetic blood has not been FDA approved, and the prices for it are 3 or 4 times the cost of a regular unit of blood, which French said would not be not realistic for the average consumer. When asked about the possibility for blood alternatives, Kubina replied, "right now we are committed to ending the blood shortage"