Patient advocates in Canada have demanded a fresh investigation into the death of a young woman who died after donating blood plasma, citing a 'perfect storm' of lax safety protocols and poorly trained staff. They warn of 'systemic issues' at plasma donation sites across the country.
Death of Rodiyat Alabede
Rodiyat Alabede, a 22-year-old international student at the University of Winnipeg, died of cardiac arrest shortly after a plasma donation in October 2025 at a facility operated by the Spanish healthcare company Grifols. An initial Health Canada investigation found no link between the donation and her death. However, on Wednesday, campaigners alleged 'significant medical discrepancies' between her autopsy and Health Canada's medical summary, accusing the federal body of a 'cover-up'.
Advocates' Concerns
Kat Lanteigne, a safe blood campaigner representing Alabede's family, stated that the autopsy revealed an enlarged heart (cardiomegaly), which would have placed 'major strain' on her body during donation. 'We don't know whether they screened her properly or responded appropriately,' Lanteigne said, citing 'damning' inspection reports by Health Canada. The reports found numerous deficiencies, including poor staff training, failures in standard operating procedures, inadequate record keeping, and failure to address past issues. In some cases, staff were allowed up to four retakes of a failed quiz without changes to questions.
The Health Canada reports also flagged issues with staff competency in operating machines, including responding to alarms. 'When Rodiyat was donating, we believe alarms were going off instructing staff to stop, and that was possibly not adhered to,' Lanteigne added. The reports described the company's reporting as 'incomplete' and 'inaccurate'.
Grifols Response
Grifols did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Lanteigne's remarks. Earlier, in response to a Globe and Mail report, Grifols said it had submitted detailed action plans to Health Canada for immediate implementation and would work closely with the regulator.
Call for Investigation
Lanteigne and others have written to Prime Minister Mark Carney to reopen the investigation and suspend Grifols's license. Deaths from plasma donation are rare; only three fatalities have been documented in Canada in the last decade, all in Manitoba. The Guardian previously reported that Grifols facilities accounted for half of all non-compliance instances in blood inspections since 2016, with issues at the Winnipeg site dating back to 2022.
Three months after Alabede's death, another person died while donating plasma at a different Winnipeg location. Health Canada said immediate visits to centres after each fatality indicated standard procedures were followed, but internal emails showed concern after the second death. Grifols stated it had 'no reason to believe there is a correlation' between the donations and deaths.
Lanteigne highlighted discrepancies between the medical examiner's report and Health Canada's summary, including different volumes of plasma collected. The Guardian confirmed these discrepancies with a copy of the autopsy, provided with family permission.
The case unfolds against the backdrop of a national scandal where thousands of Canadians were infected with HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C through contaminated blood products in the 1980s and 1990s. Lanteigne expressed disappointment that officials never contacted the family. 'Rodiyat donated that day to save another person's life. She did not go to Grifols to die,' she said.
