DCA shuts two blood banks in Miyapur, Dar-ul-Shifa over illegal sale of plasma

Hyderabad: The Drugs Control Administration (DCA) in Telangana cancelled the licenses of two blood banks to stop the illegal sale of human plasma.

The two blood banks have been identified as the Srikara Hospital Blood Centre at Madinaguda in Miyapur and the New Life Educational Society Blood Centre at Dar-ul-Shifa.

The crackdown stemmed from a raid conducted by DCA officers at Haemo Service Laboratories in Moosapet on February 2. A person named R Raghavendra Naik was found to be operating the firm illegally within a residential building, stockpiling human plasma bags obtained from various blood banks for unauthorised sale.

Further investigation revealed that Srikara Hospital Blood Bank and the New Life Educational Society Blood Centre had been involved in the illegal sale of plasma to Haemo Service Laboratories. This breach of norms prompted immediate action from DCA officers, who confirmed the violations upon raiding the blood banks.

Plasma, a vital component in medical treatments, is separated from whole blood through plasmapheresis. The illegal sale of plasma poses significant risks to public health, prompting the DCA to issue show-cause notices to the implicated blood banks. The notices addressed concerns of non-conformity with blood bank norms and the illegal sale of plasma.

In a statement, DCA director general VB Kamalasan Reddy emphasised the severity of the situation, stating, “As the illegal sale of plasma by blood banks can have detrimental consequences on public health, the licenses of the two blood banks have been cancelled with immediate effect, in the larger public interest.”

The DCA urged blood banks to implement stringent measures to prevent such activities and emphasised that violators would face legal consequences.