Illegal supply of blood components busted
Hyderabad: The State Drugs Control Administration (DCA) busted the illegal preparation or supply of blood components, including single donor platelets, packed RBC, and plasma by the blood bank named ‘Asian Blood Centre’ at Medchal-Malkajgiri district.
Based on credible information about the illegal preparation and sale of blood components, officials from the DCA conducted a raid on the premises of the blood bank ‘Asian Blood Centre’ (A unit of Asian Health Foundation), situated at Shanti Surabhi Complex, Dr AS Rao Nagar , Medchal-Malkajgiri District, on Friday and Saturday. The blood bank, ‘Asian Blood Centre’, was permitted by the Drugs Control Administration for activities, including the collection, storage, processing, and distribution of ‘Whole Human Blood’ only, was not authorized to
prepare and distribute blood components such as Single Donor Platelets, Packed RBC, Plasma, etc.
During the raid, officials found that the blood bank ‘Asian Blood Centre’ is illegally preparing blood components such as Packed RBC, Plasma and, supplying them to the patients. “The single donor platelets are prepared through a process called ‘Plateletpheresis’. The Asian Blood Centre does not have the capability to carry out the apheresis process, as the blood centre does not have equipment such as an ‘apheresis machine’ or a ‘Blood Cell Separator’,” officials said.
Blood centre technician J Ravi Kumar revealed during the raid that Single donor platelets were illegally procured from other blood banks (blood centres) and were being supplied to the patients in an unauthorized manner. During the raid, DCA officials seized blood components viz. two packed RBCs bags and one Plasma Bag, along with account books, sales bill books of whole blood and blood components, blood requisition forms, and labels of single donor platelets from the premises of Asian Blood Centre. T Shiva Teja, Drugs Inspector, Kapra and B Praveen, Drugs Inspector, Shameerpet were among the officers who carried out the raid.