Medical Experts Warn Against Buying Black Market Plasma
Hyderabad: Medical experts said that plasma sold in the black market is typically sourced from individuals who have recovered from a Covid-19 infection as it would contain antibodies. However, sales in the black market pose significant risks due to the quality and safety of the same.
“Exorbitant prices place this life-saving treatment out of reach for many vulnerable individuals,” Dr P. Shravan Kumar, professor of gastroenterology at Gandhi Hospital, said.
The TS Drugs Control Authority (DCA) had on Monday cancelled the licences of Srikara Hospital Blood Centre in Madinaguda of Miyapur and New Life Educational Society Blood Centre in Darulshifa due to their involvement in an illegal plasma collection racket.
DCA Director-General V.B. Kamalasan Reddy said: “To sell plasma, they should have an agreement with blood centres, and can issue surplus plasma to the CRO directly on obtaining a no-objection certificate from CDSCO (Central Drug Standard Control Organization) of the Central government.”
DCA authorities, in a raid of Haemo Service Laboratories that was operating from a residential building in Moosapet, discovered a large stock of human plasma stored in bags in the freezer.
A probe revealed the owner, R. Raghavendra Naik, was illegally collecting plasma from various blood banks and selling it in the black market for the past five years. He was taken into custody.
“Illegal operations are conducted discreetly to evade police scrutiny, with those involved often posing as legitimate donors or intermediaries, exploiting loopholes in the system. They may forge documents or manipulate records to make the transactions appear legitimate to laboratories for clinical researches. Additionally, some operate in consensus with corrupt officials or healthcare workers, who provide insider assistance,” Kamalasan Reddy said.
He said that buyers and sellers in the black market communicate through secret channels, and that a unit of plasma could cost anywhere between `3,500 and `10,000, depending on demand and availability.