Grifols is the only major commercial collector of plasma in Canada, with 17 sites in six provinces.Shay Conroy/The Globe and Mail
Health Minister Marjorie Michel’s office says Health Canada is examining concerns raised by the family of a 22-year-old who died following a plasma donation at a for-profit donation centre, two months after the department said its review of the death had closed.
Rodiyat Alabede, a University of Winnipeg student, died on Oct. 25, 2025. Health Canada’s description of the circumstances of her death are being challenged by her family, but an autopsy report says her heart rhythm began to deteriorate and then stop while she was giving plasma, a protein-rich fluid found in blood that is used to manufacture medicine.
Ms. Alabede was selling plasma at a Winnipeg clinic owned by Grifols, a Barcelona-based pharmaceutical company. Another person died at different Winnipeg clinic owned by Grifols in January, although that donor’s death and circumstances are not publicly known.
Health Canada inspectors visited both clinics in the aftermath of the deaths and found multiple deficiencies, including staff not trained properly to handle alarms on donation machines, according to internal reports obtained by The Globe. Health Canada announced conditions on 16 of Grifols’ licences on April 1, including limits on how many donors could be seen at a time.
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However, Health Canada said on April 3 that its assessment of the deaths was completed and “no linkage” had been established between the deaths and the donation process itself, a declaration that Ms. Alabede’s family disputes because of discrepancies in government reports.
Grifols is the only major commercial collector of plasma in Canada, with 17 sites in six provinces across the country. It has licences to operate in the country from Health Canada.
On Monday, Ms. Michel appeared at the House of Commons finance committee to discuss the Liberal government’s budget bill. She was asked questions by Conservative member of Parliament Dan Mazier about the agreement between Canadian Blood Services and Grifols, which has never been made public.
Minister of Health Marjorie Michel on May 28.Spencer Colby/The Canadian Press
Ms. Michel said in French there were problems with Grifols and the deaths were very sad. She then began to say there was no direct link between Grifols and something else, but did not finish the sentence. She said it is still under investigation, without specifying what she was referring to, and that the federal government is working with the provinces, because the provinces have a part to play in the Grifols contract.
The Globe asked Ms. Michel’s office if her comments meant Health Canada was reopening the review into the deaths that it had closed.
Her spokesperson Alexandre Bergeron did not specifically answer, but confirmed the government is following up on the families’ concerns.
The minister’s comments “referred to the broader ongoing regulatory investigations being undertaken by Health Canada, as well as Health Canada’s efforts to examine the gaps identified by the families’ representatives, with a view to strengthening protections for both blood donors and recipients,” Mr. Bergeron said.
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Conservative and Bloc Québécois MPs on the health committee have tried to request that Ms. Michel testify at their committee before the summer recess about the deaths and other issues with plasma collection in Canada. But those attempts have been blocked by Liberals on the committee.
Mr. Mazier asked Ms. Michel, on Monday, if she would appear, but she said she has appeared five times before the health committee on various matters and could not commit to making time for another appearance in the coming weeks.
Mr. Mazier said the minister was not taking the issue seriously. “She has not read the agreement between Grifols, a foreign drugmaker, and Canadian Blood Services. Her department did not even ask to see it, and now she is refusing to testify at the health committee to answer questions about her government’s failed oversight,” he said in an e-mail on Tuesday.
The Conservatives have also raised concerns that the agreement does not stop Grifols from selling pharmaceutical products overseas that are made from plasma collected in Canada.
Kat Lanteigne, a public-health advocate and spokesperson for Ms. Alabede’s family, said it was implausible that that there was no link beween the donation and her death, especially because the young donor had a heart condition that would have put her at risk of a cardiac event.
“It is indisputable that what happened to Ms. Alabede at Grifols the day she died has been grossly misrepresented and we are working with health officials to correct the record,” she said.
Grifols has said it conducted an internal review of the deaths and has seen the report into Ms. Alabede’s death and that none of the assessments show a link between the donation process and the donor’s death. The company has also pointed to Health Canada’s public statements about a lack of a causal link.
Editor’s note: Due to an editing error, an earlier version of this story incorrectly said Grifols operates with licences from Canadian Blood Services. Health Canada issues licences for blood establishments. This version has been corrected.