# Why is blood so expensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 12, 2006, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594 "2006-01-12T00:49:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594/21 "2006-01-12T14:23:26Z")
> [@](#): > > Why is blood so expensive? [del]Because it tastes sooooo gooood![/del] I mean, why are you asking **me**? I wasn’t anywhere _near_ there! I was with Renfield all night! We were out…DRINKING! Thaaat’s the ticket! We were out drinking! BEER! We were drinking _beer_! Nothing else! I mean, what else _could we_… :eek: …we were drinking beer. Somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594/22 "2006-01-12T14:33:28Z")
> [@OliverTwistofLime](#): > > Don’t be fooled by the term non-profit…the Red Cross is non-profit…the Director makes about 650,000/year…the Salvation Army is nonprofit…the head man makes less than 15,000/year. > > Many non-profit hospitals charge plenty to “cover costs” liability ins for the Board of Directors…salaries: can be quite high for certain people and many other “perks” too numerous to mention. The CEO’s salary has nothing to do with whether the organization is for-profit or not. This has been discussed before; the short summary is that the Red Cross is an enormous organization that works closely with many national governments and does a very great deal of complicated work. The CEO of the Red Cross has responsibilities comparable to those of any corporate CEO, and has to have the same basic skills as well. Whoever’s running the Red Cross easily has the skills to lead a large corporation, for which they’d get paid many times as much. The Red Cross doesn’t pay an enormous salary, but they _do_ pay one that’s at least somewhat competitive; if they didn’t, they couldn’t possibly find a CEO to lead them. ---
**Author:** ![Fridgemagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@Fridgemagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fridgemagnet)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594/23 "2006-01-12T14:42:16Z")
Ouch, that’s really painful. Just to rub salt in the wound, here in the UK we get our blood for free. Mind, I don’t get paid for it when I donate it either (if you don’t count the cup of tea and biscuit). You need some sort of commie health system in the US. Paying $4000 for a small transfusion is just obscene. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594/24 "2006-01-12T14:54:35Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Aside from sperm, that’s what it’s like in the US. He was making a joke. That’s what makes it so comical, you see. Ah, but I didn’t know it was donated as opposed to bought from people in the US. So I wasn’t getting the joke. That’s what made it so unfunny, you see. Seriously though, I’ve been led to beleive you received something a bit more than cookies after your blood letting in the US. Knowledge accepted and assimilated 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594/25 "2006-01-12T15:02:35Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > Aside from sperm, that’s what it’s like in the US. He was making a joke. That’s what makes it so comical, you see. Really? I thought in the US system you got paid for donating blood. Is that a recent change? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594/26 "2006-01-12T15:03:38Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > Seriously though, I’ve been led to beleive you received something a bit more than cookies after your blood letting in the US. Knowledge accepted and assimilated 😉 There are plasma donation centers which pay a very small amount of money to plasma donors. This can be done more often than regular blood donation since you get important stuff like red blood cells back. Plasma is still needed and has (IIRC) a longer “shelf life” than whole blood, but can’t be used in place of whole blood. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594/27 "2006-01-12T15:06:53Z")
> [@Pushkin](#): > > Seriously though, I’ve been led to beleive you received something a bit more than cookies after your blood letting in the US. Knowledge accepted and assimilated 😉 “Something a bit more”? You mean, like, the gorgeous blonde nurse says, “Oh, I’m not sure you’re ready to go. You look a little bit woozy from giving blood. Here, lie down for awhile until you feel better. Let’s go to the back, where you can have some privacy. That’s where me and the other nurses change into our uniforms - sometimes we get naughty back there! You might have to spank us!” That sort of thing? You can sell plasma (though I think they still call it “donating” for some reason), but whole blood is, as far as I know, only donated. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594/28 "2006-01-12T15:07:11Z")
I’ve given lotsa blood. Aside from cookies, supermarket donuts, cans of soda, juice-boxes, an autographed picture of Jean Béliveau, miscellaneous souveneirs and pins and an air of smugness, I got bupkus. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594/29 "2006-01-12T15:13:49Z")
> [@LionelHutz405](#): > > Really? I thought in the US system you got paid for donating blood. Is that a recent change? Damn, should have previewed. I can’t recall a time during which people in the US were paid for whole blood donations, at least via the Red Cross or any other certified centers which provide blood to hospitals. Plasma “donations” at private company “donation centers”, sure, but not whole blood. Checking the Red Cross’ website for [donating blood](http://www.givelife.org/), I see that plasma is primarily used for treating burn victims (but is used in combination with other blood products for other uses) and can be frozen for up to a year. Platelets have to be used within 5 days, so I’m assuming this applies to whole blood as well. Red blood cells, within 42 days. My dad was O-, the “universal donor” blood type, so the Red Cross loved him and sent him reminder cards as soon as the two month waiting period was due to expire. (NB: You only need to wait 3 days before donating plasma again.) ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594/30 "2006-01-12T15:37:24Z")
> [@Ferret Herder](#): > > My dad was O-, the “universal donor” blood type, so the Red Cross loved him and sent him reminder cards as soon as the two month waiting period was due to expire. (NB: You only need to wait 3 days before donating plasma again.) I hear that. I’m O- as well. Universal doner, but when getting blood, we get the shaft, as everyone else has at least two blood types they can receive, we can only receive one. Add to that the fact that when in doubt of blood type, they give O-, means there is less of our own blood for us! We REALLY need to get working on cheap, effective, artificial blood. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594/31 "2006-01-12T16:01:51Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > I can not answer this, but I am with you on it. I do want to put my two cents worth in, though, on another related question. > > Why is it when I DONATE blood, at no friggin’ cost, do people have to PAY for it on the other end? OK, I can accept such things as storage/processing costs, but I just think these should be waived as well, since _I_ am NOT selling it. And, also, how is it determined that what is going into your son’s veins was purchased blood, versus donated blood? I have a friend whose husband needed blood. Here’s the deal: They get the BLOOD itself for free. All the other processing stuff is chargeable. He had some deal where if he donated x number of pints, he’d get all the free blood he needed for the rest of his life. Which was true. But it still cost them thousands. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594/32 "2006-01-12T19:04:57Z")
Just to give you an idea of the cost, in France, blod is billed to hospitals by the agency in charge of collecting it for around €50/liter. Blood donors aren’t indemnized in France, but this cover the cost of collecting, testing, conditionning, etc… it. On the other hand it doesn’t include the cost incured by the hospitals for instance for storing it. Also, I’ve no clue what could be the price of the various blood derived products. ---
**Author:** ![Emerald\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Emerald\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emerald_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2006, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594/33 "2006-01-12T19:25:59Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > Why is it when I DONATE blood, at no friggin’ cost, do people have to PAY for it on the other end? I know it’s not quite what you asked, but I’d like the address the question of why people do not get paid to donate blood. The excellent (but somewhat fluffy) book _[Freakanomics](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006073132X/104-7126863-4921519?v=glance&n=283155)_ looked at a few different studies in the area and explained the conclusions drawn from them quite well. Basically, if you only pay a little for blood, it cheapens the experience and robs people of the satisfaction they get from doing what they see as a moral duty, and blood donations actually decrease. If you pay a lot of money, you get more donations but a few people will lie on the forms about their disease, travel, and sexual history (etc.) in order to get paid when they are actually ineligible. Since the safety of the blood supply is paramount, this is clearly unacceptable. Paying a moderate amount of money actually causes both of these effects. Therefore, the only safe thing to do is pay nothing (although freebies like cookies and coupons make people feel appreciated without feeling like they did it for a paycheck). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-blood-so-expensive/339594.md?page=1)