You donate blood to places like the Red Cross where they distribute it for free.
Plasma is bought by Plasma people and then resold for profit.
plasma donation is advertised pretty heavily
where i live... moreso than practically any
other city i've ever been. there is a radio
commercial that features the voice of a
(obviously) middle class woman playing with
her children. the mom is talking about what
fun her life is and how great it is to be
able to afford 'special' gifts to herself
(like spa treatments, pedicures, etc) and
possibly family vacations thanks to the money
she receives from her 'donation' of plasma.
now its no secret that the average healthy
person donating plasma can receive around
$200 a month (in 4 easy installments)...
and over time, you can essentially rack up
a hefty sum of money -- enough to purchase
a low-end vacation to disneyworld (which is
touted in the radio spot).
but after hearing the commerical a bazillion
times, it finally occured to me ---
they pay for plasma... but not for blood.
a blood donation is charity.
the removal of plasma is very similar to
blood and although they return the unused
blood back into your system, i can't figure
out why there is money involved with plasma.
now i admit that i haven't actually taken
the time to go and google it up... but being
skeptical, i'm curious as to the reason why
plasma is worthy of money but blood isn't.
a thousand and one conspiracy theories rise
up in my head -- especially the most famous
one about the many secret medical tests and
biological weapons made from 'donated' plasma...
that i just wonder why i can get $200 a month
with my plasma. hell, its a better bargain
to 'donate' plasma than to donate blood!!
i'm being told that my plasma is being used
to help 'save lives' (though i'm not being
told HOW).... so i just wonder about it all....
so yeah... there you have it....
You donate blood to places like the Red Cross where they distribute it for free.
Plasma is bought by Plasma people and then resold for profit.
Yup, in the life savin' business here. Hope you can pay for yer plasma mr.
Haven't you ever watched vampire movies? [img]tongue.gif[/img]
I've wondered that before too. Donating my blood as a whole, for free to the red cross, or selling it for a nice bit of profit.
It's possible that maybe the plasma, as plasma is compatible with everyone dispite blood type, whereas blood as a whole, is only compatible with certain types of blood. So having a bunch of plasma simplifies things because it can be used by anyone.
<font size="4" face="Tempus Sans ITC, Tahoma">for some reason, i got the visual of the red crossOriginally posted by phucklogginin:
You donate blood to places like the Red Cross where they distribute it for free.
tossing out blood bags from the back of a pickup
similar to the scenes of the peace corps tossing
out grain bags to the starving africans.
sadly, i can't say that blood is free... or even
given out for free. last i checked, you rack up
a nice bill from the doctor when blood is used.
i suppose the blood is free, but the service isn't.
beta you make a good point about the compatability
issue... which is something i didn't consider.
it makes some sense and i wonder if that is a
reason why.
on a side note (and separate post), i'd like to
send my regards to the familiarity......
it makes me chuckle.
<font size="4" face="Tempus Sans ITC, Tahoma">LOL.. I love most of the old vamp movies...Originally posted by Beta Decay:
[QB]Haven't you ever watched vampire movies? [img]tongue.gif[/img]
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Shatzy... Wny not, get a peice of the pie?
Those are good numbers!
[img]graemlins/hmmm.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thinking.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/thinking.gif[/img]
Mmmm, pie. Thanksgiving is comming up really soon... and most likely I won't be getting any pie.
Then again, I'm gonna be staying home and spending thanksgiving all alone... How sad. [img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img]
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