Manitoba plasma donor died from ‘sudden cardiac arrest;’ advocates call for new investigation

Advocates are calling for a Health Canada investigation into a death in Winnipeg that occurred following a plasma donation. CTV's Jeff Keele reports.

National and provincial advocates are calling for a new investigation into two deaths following plasma donations in Winnipeg.

BloodWatch, a non-profit organization, and The Manitoba Health Coalition (TMHC), an advocacy group, held a virtual news conference Wednesday to call on Health Canada to probe the death of 22-year-old Rodiyat Alabede, who died after donating plasma at the Grifols Taylor location in October 2025.

Another death was also reported to Health Canada following a plasma donation at another Winnipeg Grifols location in January 2026.

Kat Lanteigne, BloodWatch executive director, said an autopsy showed Alabede’s cause of death was a sudden cardiac arrest due to dilated cardiomegaly, known as an enlarged heart. She said she is representing the international student’s family in the matter.

“The pressure and stress of plasma donation would put on a donor’s heart with this condition would be profound,” said Lanteigne, adding the young woman did not know she had the condition.

A copy of the autopsy report was not provided.

In April 2026, Health Canada said the deaths of two donors in Winnipeg are not connected to the donation itself, but did find non-compliance issues when department officials visited the two Winnipeg sites.

That same month, Manitoba’s chief medical examiner said it found no link between the plasma donation process and the deaths of the two donors, based on all the information made available.

BloodWatch and TMHC are also calling for Grifols’ license to be suspended pending a new probe and are asking the provincial government to ban for-profit plasma donation.

In a statement, a Grifols spokesperson told CTV News in Winnipeg all assessments conducted showed no link to the donation process.

“The investigation found no evidence of a machine malfunction or staff error that contributed to the donor’s serious adverse event. Health Canada has publicly stated that it has determined there was no linkage between the serious adverse event and the donating process,” the spokesperson said.

Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara said they are not going to undermine the investigations already done.

“When Health Canada and the chief medical examiner come to effectively the same conclusion that these tragic deaths are not linked to plasma donation, I am absolutely going to respect that conclusion,” Asagwara said.

In a statement, Health Canada said its thoughts are with Alabede’s family, and acknowledged public interest in seeing its compliance verification findings and medical summary of the October 2025 adverse event.

The department said it does not publicly post full inspection or compliance verification reports because they contain personal or sensitive information, but noted it has received a request from the family for the release of records and is reviewing it.

Health Canada maintained that plasma donation is safe, saying “safety issues are extremely rare given the large volume of plasma collected and used nationwide.” The department said plasma-derived products are essential for treating serious and life-threatening conditions and that strong donor and recipient protections remain a priority.

“While Canada’s blood plasma supply is widely recognized as one of the safest in the world, thanks to rigorous screening, testing, and monitoring, Health Canada will continue to closely monitor plasma collection,” the statement read.

CTV News has reached out to the chief medical examiner for further comment.

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