American Red Cross Punished for Blood-Supply Error
June 11, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
The American Red Cross, in Washington, has been fined $1.7-million by the Food and Drug Administration because regulators found that the organization washed six units of red blood cells using the wrong saline solution, The Washington Post reports.
The units of blood cells were transfused to three patients in 2006 and last year at chapters in the Northeast and Southeast parts of the country.
Red Cross executives and federal regulators said that even with the mistakes, the country’s blood supply is safe and the transfusions did not endanger patients.
The charity has been fined more than $21-million for safety lapses over the past five years but said it has put into effect new measures to protect blood it collects.
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